Felo de se
by xXAsalemXx
Summary: UNDER CONSTRUCTION! It started with a mission, one simple mission to complete. And somehow, we get this clichéd story of two that can't stand each other, but would die if they couldn't be together. Of course, to never be admitted...right? SyncXoc
1. Chapter 1

…Night of the new moon.

It was perfect for me; without the moon's light, and the only illumination coming from the stars, I could easily stay hidden. It was almost pathetically easy to sneak in the city. I smiled to myself as I realized how much less paranoid they were than us.

I dashed across the streets, avoiding any obstacle that would cause too much noise, or any shed of light from a house window. I made sure to stay hidden completely from sight.

I came to a large building in the center of town, and I smiled again. I brushed my midnight hair back into place to keep it out of my way during my mission. I snuck along the edge of the building, scourging for any small opening. I was tiny (damn it) so it wasn't too hard to find. I settled for a small window. I jumped through, rolling into a crouch and searching for any signs of life.

I heard a jerk of a door and jumped back into the shadowed area of the room. He looked around warily and I held my breath, keeping my eyes on him. He walked across the room slowly, reaching the other side. He began mumbling to himself as he opened it up, but all I caught was 'going crazy' and 'stupid noises.'

I grinned suddenly; this man was just so _clueless._

I dashed for the door, closing it silently, and followed the man; making sure to stay quiet, so that he didn't have any more reason to go looking for me.

I hid behind the corner, and watched the man make his way to what I assumed to be where my 'target' was located.

…Oracle knights' headquarters.

He opened the door and I made a move to catch it before it closed, then snuck through. I looked around to see what looked like a maze of hallways and stairwells, before settling on continuing to follow the man.

I followed him to a door—identical to all those around it—and I briefly wondered how they could tell it apart from any other door. He knocked quietly—cowering, I noticed—and quickly it flew opened.

A tanned man, with his bronze hair swept up into a ponytail, opened the door. I assumed he was interrupted in his slumber, since he was clad in a pair of pants and no shirt.

Wow, old shirtless guys; not at the top of my things-I-need-to-see list.

"What?" The man seethed, pulling me out of my thoughts. The man I had followed cringed at his tone, before answering—albeit very hesitantly.

"I-There wasn't anyone there Commandant, I was mistaken. I apologize for the false alarm." He then bowed respectively, his hands shaking.

"No, it's alright," The older man—the commandant, I thought with a smile—replied, "It's good to check these things, false alarm or not…"

Taking advantage of my position, I pulled out a small pistol, beginning to aim.

"Intruder!" I pocketed the gun at the voice, and whirled around to see a soldier pulling out his sword. I cursed under my breath, before dashing for the shadows. Taking a quick look at the commandant, I saw him gritting his teeth angrily.

I couldn't help but laugh lightly before dashing off to find a hiding place. I quickly found a large room—what I assumed to be some sort of training room, and hurried inside. In the pitch darkness, I didn't know where to turn, and searched blindly for a wall.

My hands finally came in contact with a cool surface, and I climbed up the smooth surface quickly using the ridges in the cement. In my hurry, I failed to calculate the height of the ceiling, and I my head came harshly into contact with the ceiling.

I suddenly became light headed, and struggled to keep a hold of the wall. I reached out blindly, before latching onto a hanging light, and settled myself on it, hidden from view.

I hear the soldiers voices—they seemed to multiply like _rabbits_—and curled into my hiding place, still having trouble staying still with my feeling as if I'm flying.

Damn headache.

There was clanking of metal and a hum of voices, before I realized they were leaving. I jumped down, landing soundlessly on my feet. I landed awkwardly, and nearly winced as a wave of pain was sent up my back. I shook my head—big mistake as I realized it only made things worse—and blindly tried to grip onto reality.

I ran carefully through the halls, dodging any possible sighting of a soldier. I didn't make it too far before I started seeing black boxes in the corners of my vision.

Cursing quietly, I realized I had to make this quick. I pressed my ear up to a random door and heard nothing. Desperate and feeling faint, I opened the door silently, and looked around.

It was dark, but I could see the messy bed and the clothes strewn around everywhere. My brow furrowed as I figured this was one of the guard's rooms, and they had left to find me.

I would've left and tried to find somewhere else just in case, but a figure outside the window caught my attention.

…Right Outside.

No armor.

No guards.

…Was the Commandant.

I pulled out my gun and aimed through the window, I got a clear shot…

I'd love to say I shot him and he dropped dead but of course—fate despises me—it didn't go that way.

"Drop the gun or die here and now…" A cold voice demanded from behind me, pushing a knife against my throat. I couldn't make much out of the person behind me, but I knew it was a boy, and he had to be young—not much older than me. I didn't think the Oracle Knights' had members even close to my age of thirteen.

Of course, the tone of his voice made him seem older, not to mention the total void of emotion he possessed in his tone.

I gripped the gun tightly, wondering if I could just shoot anyway. If I died it wouldn't be a big deal—I wouldn't be _too_ missed.

"I said _drop the gun_." His voice was hardly over a hiss now, and I unconsciously began dropping the gun. Halfway through lowering my weapon, I smirked.

Aiming it backwards, I pulled the trigger and shot him in the leg.

With a yowl, he lowered the knife and I took the advantage to start to run. I didn't make it even two steps before I felt an iron hard grip on my ankle and I fell forward. For a split second, I completely lost touch with reality and the room was spinning terribly. I grabbed a knife, pinning his sleeve to the floor and jerking my ankle free.

I stood shakily, but hurriedly, and made a move for the door. I just reached the door when I felt a stinging pressure on my neck.

In my last moments of consciousness, I pictured what my Lieutenant would say to me at this point.

_Pathetic, Luella_, He would drawl, _you've_ _failed us again. You have no more second chances._

I fell blindly, finally giving in to the feeling of faint.

This wasn't good.

**Okay, I now have my first chapter in first person, buuuuut the rest are still being written…just a warning to anyone who is just starting reading, if all of a sudden the point of view switches from first to third, it's because those chapters haven't been edited yet.**

**Thanks for reading! And review!**


	2. Chapter 2

I was suddenly aware of the nearly blinding pain in the back of my head and I groaned loudly. Turning to my side, I let my eyes fluttered open and took in my surroundings. I was in a jail cell; that much was obvious. There was cold stone surrounding me, save one wall of metal bars—a constant reminder of my failure to kill.

I scowled as I realize in addition to the small jail cell, it was dark.

Great, I thought, two things I hate: Confined spaces and the dark.

I lifted a hand to inspect my head, my finger brushing over a large bump on my head, and I winced. I pulled out my rubber band keeping my hair up, letting my hair fall messily around my face. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, and yawned involuntarily.

I looked down and realized I was still in the clothes I came here in, and I felt the cloth mask on my face.

I stood up, stumbling slightly from a head rush, and stared down the barred wall angrily.

Finally realizing that staring at it long enough would not make it disappear, I marched over to it, closing my small hands around the bars and shaking them angrily.

"Somebody let me out of here _right now_." I bellowed, my childish voice doing nothing to make me seem threatening. There was no response but the groans of the fellow prisoners.

I growled angrily, forgetting my place as my anger got the better of me, and threatened; "As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to rip out your _commandant's_ intestines and _force them down his wind pipe!"_

If I wasn't so angry, I might have chuckled at how demented that sounded coming from a voice like mine.

I heard an almost inaudible sigh of discontent, and my blue eyes narrowed. "I know someone's there!"

There was a quiet growl, before a boys voice demanded; "Would you just shut up?"

"You'll be the first to die!" I vowed, punching the bars angrily.

"I don't think you're in a very good position to be threatening me." He said calmly. My eyebrows pulled together as I suddenly realized he was right, before I covered up by shaking the bars again.

"When I get out of here, I'll—"

"You won't be getting out of here if you don't _shut the hell up."_

I suddenly went quiet.

"That's better."

I could practically feel him smirking. That arrogant, bastardly, stuck up…_thing._ Suddenly furiously angry I turned and slammed my fist into the wall beside me, welcoming the pain that rolled up my arm and finally settled on my knuckles.

"…You done?"

"Yes, thank you," I growled.

"Come." He said, about to continue when I cut him off.

"I'm not a _dog_, idiot."

"You're as good as one," He said curtly, making me scowl, "We're bringing you to the commandant, he needs to question you," he snorted, "He finds something interesting about you."

I snorted in turn, "You're taking me to your commandant?"

"Don't get smart," He spat, "If you paid any attention you'd notice we took you're weapons. Now get up and come on."

I saw the gate open and I made a dash to run, but he caught me before I went anywhere.

"I don't think so." Was all he said, before pulling my arms behind my back and forcing me forward.

"Who are you?"

"You've never heard of me?"

I turned my head to catch his appearance, and saw a head of green hair. That was all I needed to recognize him.

"Tempest," I scowled, and he, in turn, scowled at me as well.

"Exactly, now get moving."

He shoved my forward, "I'm walking, I'm walking."

"Well walk faster!" He snapped, and I only frowned in response. I was done with the 'witty' banter…for now anyway.

We came up to a familiar door, and I frowned as I realized this was where my _failed mission_ was.

Yeah, I wasn't good with failure.

We walked in and I found it was a simple room. Like an office, complete with a small desk and even a wall full of books. I couldn't see whoever was behind the desk; the back of the chair was facing us. Obviously I knew who it was.

"Van…" So that was his name? Funny, I was trying to kill him and I didn't even know his name. I should really get to know my target before I kill them.

He whirled around to face us, caught sight of me, and smiled.

Smiled? …Really?

"Ah, Sync sit her down," He ordered, and I felt that Tempest kid shove me down by my shoulder, binding my hands together before letting go.

"Now then," He began calmly, leaning on the front of his desk and staring down at me. "I need you to answer a few questions."

I faked a sweet smile, "Okay," I said, "But I can't guarantee I won't lie." Yes, being a smart ass; one of my favorite pastimes.

He glared, finally letting off on the whole 'nice cop' façade. "Let me rephrase that, I need you to answer a few questions, truthfully, or you can go back to the jail cell."

I frowned. It was a no win situation, I either give away information, or rot in a jail cell.

The first option seemed a whole lot more appealing.

"Fine," I grumbled.

"Good," He said, "First I need your name."

My eyebrows pulled together: My name? Why the Hell did my name matter?

"Luella…" I answered warily.

"No last name?" He inquired, raising a single eyebrow.

"Not everyone has a last name…" I replied angrily.

"Who sent you to kill me?"

"Who said I was sent?" I countered inquisitively.

He glared, "You expect me to believe a twelve-year-old—"

"Thirteen." I corrected, and he stared for a moment, "Thirteen years old."

"Yes, Thirteen-year-old, came to kill me, of her own will?"

I shrugged, "It would be nice if you did believe it…"

"Well I don't, who sent you?" He pressed.

I had a very strong urge to reply with 'your mother,' but fortunately, my childish nature didn't _completely _overpower my common sense.

"A sort of organization, I guess…" I sighed, "That hate you and your ideals and want to kill you."

"And they sent you? Why not send someone more experienced."

"Who says I'm not experienced?" I countered, but he just stared at me, as if expecting an answer.

I sighed again; it's as if this guy thinks I _want_ to go on assassination missions.

Whatever, I decided to go with it. "I haven't got a good mission in _ages_," I drawled, "Why pass up this one?"

"Why indeed…" He mumbled, "Well just look where that decision got you…"

I glared, "Man, do I want to shoot you right now."

He ignored me, instead turning to the green-headed God-General, "Sync, You know you have a mission coming up, on your way to pack, please take Miss Luella back to her cell."

"Wait a minute; you said I wouldn't have to go back there!" I interrupted, my eyes widening.

"No," He replied, his voice monotone, "I told you if you didn't answer you'd go back. I never said if you did answer you wouldn't have to."

"Wait, but—but that's not fair!"

"Neither is trying to kill me." He smiled.

I cringed.

Tempest (I refused to call him by his name) brought me to the cell, locking me up, and leaving. There was a guard walking back and forth through all the cells. I frowned and tried to pass time by counting the seconds as they passed.

Five minutes and thirty two seconds exactly, and the guard reared his ugly head. Five minutes forty-eight seconds later, he appeared again. Then five minutes thirty-five seconds, and he was back once more.

I figured he must keep the same pace, and keep the same route, for his visits to be so timely. I counted to five minutes thirty seconds, before dashing quietly back to the shadowed part of the cell, drowning myself in the darkness.

He passed by, and at first I thought he didn't notice, before he stopped and looked around the cell. I pressed myself against the wall tightly, trying to stay out of view.

He opened the gate and looked around, closing and locking it behind him—probably in case I tried to make a run for it.

As soon as he turned his back to my corner, I leaped out, grabbed his sword, and stabbed him through the stomach with it. I grabbed the keys, stretching my arms outside the bars and unlocking the door, before dashing out.

I heard the guard's strangled cries of "Prisoner Escaped!" and I frowned at how pathetic his voice sounded.

I hated killing.

But it was all I could do.

In my temporary cloudy-mindedness, I crashed straight into a group of four or five guards.

Smooth move, Luella.

They crowded around me, and as soon as one made a move to grab me, I swiped his sword and stabbed the one in front of me.

He fell immediately and I jumped over him. Turned the corner…

…Rammed into the tall, hulking frame of Largo the Black Lion.

He grabbed my arm, twisting it behind my back, and began to lead me towards Van's office. I bit my lip to stop from crying out—I wouldn't offer anyone the satisfaction of knowing they hurt me.

He pushed me through the door to his office, Van turned around, a look of shock passing over his face momentarily, before he looked at Largo for an explanation.

Largo sighed, "She busted out of her cell, killed two guards in the process."

Van scowled, before motioning for me to sit. Largo led me to the seat, pushing me down.

"I can sit by myself, but thanks." I snapped, glaring.

"How did you escape?" Van asked, staring me down, most likely trying to make me nervous.

Yeah, nice try, but it's not working.

"Easy," I replied, pausing for dramatic effect.

"Well?"

Okay, and to make him annoyed.

"Your guards are retarded."

He glared at me, and I just smiled innocently.

"Well then, since our regular guards are too…incompetent, to watch over you, we have two options."

"Yes?" I pressed.

"We could just kill you—"

"Pass,"

He glared at me, before smirking maliciously, "Or, we could have Sync watch over you."

I paused for a moment, "I'll go with death, thanks."

"No, you already said no to that option, I guess we'll have to stick with the second choice. Largo, go fetch Sync."

"…Why him? Of all people?"

"You didn't escape under his watch." He replied simply. I would've retorted, but the door opened behind us.

"Sync," Van greeted, "I need you to do something for me on that mission of yours."

"What is it?" I almost smiled at how disinterested he sounded.

"You have to take Luella with you…" He said calmly, flipping through a book he pulled off his desk. There was a long silence, and I felt the temperature drop a few degrees. I practically felt the younger God-General seething.

"I have to _what?_" He growled.


	3. Chapter 3

I think this Van guy fed off of other peoples misery.

I really do.

"You were the only one who was able to keep her in her cell when she needed to be, so I figured who better to keep her from killing all my men than you?"

"She was unconscious…" Sync argued angrily.

Van didn't listen. Although I was too afraid to turn around and see his expression, I knew he was none too happy about lugging me around with him.

Then again, neither was I.

"Sync, you can leave now. Finish packing if need be. Luella—" I didn't know we were at a first name basis already "—we'll have something packed for you. Largo, escort her back to her cell."

"If you trust Largo to take her back to her cell, why can't he keep her?"

I wasn't a dog; no one_ kept_ me. But I wasn't brave enough to speak my mind at the moment.

"But Largo wasn't the one to catch her."

"She walked straight into my room! Of course I would've caught her!"

"My word is final, Sync. Now go, all of you."

Sync was the first to leave; I knew when I heard the door slam as soon as Van had finished talking. Largo forced me to stand and lead me back to my cell.

I got there and saw a pack lying on the floor. I had to hand it to them that they were prompt. I opened the bag and pulled out a few articles of clothing.

Yeah, Van definitely fed off of other people's misery.

These clothes were everything I hated: They looked weird, first off, they were anything but easy to move around in, and they were showy. I felt my eyebrow twitch slightly.

I heard footsteps but I ignored them, and when I heard his voice, I almost pretended not to hear him.

Then I decided I was being a baby and I at least wanted to seem like I was mature.

"You still not dressed?" He asked me, sounding as irritated as I was. I let a long sigh escape my lips before I responded.

"No," I replied. When he didn't respond, I thought he wanted an explanation, "Everything here is just—"

"I don't care," he spat. I frowned in response. "Just get dressed."

"No!" I objected, and he turned around and glared at me—or what I would suspect was a glare. "There—There's an open wall! I am not changing here!"

"Just change" he ground out between gritted teeth. I tightened my hold on the clothes in my hand angrily, before turning around.

"Fine, just…just don't look."

"Don't flatter yourself."

I didn't let myself take offense in this comment, for fear of starting an argument that didn't need to be started. To be perfectly honest, this boy sort of intimidated me.

Sort of.

I decided I'd brave through the horrendous clothing, and I got dressed. The jeans I was in were at least tolerable, and the shirt—showing off my entire stomach and with a low v-cut neck to top it off—at least had long sleeves. My hair was still a dirty mess and hung in my face messily, but there was no hope for a shower at the moment, and I had nothing to put it up with.

I walked out, albeit begrudgingly, and grabbed the bag on my way, slinging it over my shoulder.

"That's what you're wearing?"

"Shut up, it's not like I like it either." I snapped back, glaring at him.

"Just take the mask off," I had forgotten I was wearing a mask. I glared, hard.

"No."

"Now." He ordered, but I shook y head.

"How about you take yours off? Then it'd be fair."

"No."

I frowned, then turned away. The mask was pulled off my face and I turned to glare at him. "Hey!"

"Shut up and walk, prisoner." He snapped, pushing me harshly to start me on walking. I grumbled angrily, but obliged. Might as well try not to start something with him.

…As much as I wanted to.

--

Oh no…

"Hurry up, will you?"

What if they were here?

"You know, we really can't go anywhere if you don't move past the door."

They'll kill me, that's what.

"Move, Luella!" My name snapped me out of me reverie and I looked back at the angry face of Sync the Tempest. I looked back outside. No, if I moved outside, they might find me, and they'd kill me.

After all, wasn't I a traitor now?

I felt something push me and I stumbled out of the doorway, looking around nervously. I'm sure my eyes were as wide as saucers. He looked back at me when he realized I wasn't following him.

"What's your problem?" He asked. I opened my mouth, but he cut me off before I got a word out. "Never mind, I don't care."

I glared, but he didn't see it. He had already turned and begun walking again. He turned once more, but only half way.

"Coming? Or are you just going to stand there looking like an idiot all day?" He smirked.

I suddenly _hated_ smirks.

And green. I really hated green.

--

When we reached the pier I was being dragged around everywhere. Of course, I wasn't trusted to be alone.

A woman flirting heavily with Sync at the ticket-selling tent had distracted him long enough for me to sneak away without him noticing. He obviously wasn't interested, but the fact that she wouldn't sell him the tickets when he asked for them is what distracted him.

I snuck away to the edge of the dock. I saw a group of guys whispering amongst themselves, and I was careful to avoid them.

Fate wasn't on my side today.

The group caught up to me, I attempted to turn away, but one caught my wrist and pulled me close to him.

"You're Luella, aren't you young one?"

My eyes widened. I knew who these people were.

I also knew I shouldn't have left that doorway.

I managed to jerk my hand away and pulled it back, curling my hand into a fist and lunging forward. I hit him square in the jaw and he released my completely. One man ran up to me, in an attempt to catch me, but I spun out of the way and got behind him, ripping his belt off and throwing it around him, holding the ends together. He struggled to get it off, and I kicked him in the back, causing him to fall of the dock and into the water.

I didn't notice the two men behind me until I was caught. One twisted my arms painfully behind my back, and the other pulled a knife out in front of me. I took slight satisfaction in seeing one side of his face swelling slightly from when I punched him.

"Time to die." His voice sounded different—he sounded excited.

"But don't worry…" He said, grabbing me by the chin roughly, so I could watch him pulling the knife back, "This will only hurt a lot!"

I watched the knife coming toward me before jerking my head away. I expected the pain but instead saw the man fly to the ground, the knife falling out of his grasp. I tried to look up, but whoever was holding me dropped me suddenly. I could hear what sounded like a two second struggle before it was quiet.

I looked up and saw green.

Suddenly I was angry.

"Who were they and why were they trying to kill you?" He demanded, hoisting me up to me feet none-too-gently.

"I don't know," I lied, "Street rats?"

He frowned, and I knew he was glaring. I sighed, there was no hiding it. I mean, if I was stuck with him, he ought to know.

"They come to kill me because of you," he looked ready to retort but I cut him off, "Where I come from, if you're captured, you become a threat to the organization because you know the secrets. Therefore, they kill you."

He stared for a moment. I knew why. It was a ridiculous rule, but it's how it is where I come from.

It wasn't as if I wanted to kill, but it was risky, and you were most likely to get caught. And I was at a disadvantage. I had no other home other than HQ, so if they tell me to do something, I had to do it.

If I had a home, I didn't know. It's not as if I could remember anything before I was seven.

"Come on," He ordered, turning around to walk. He was so much faster than me, I noticed, as I struggled to keep up with him. I suppose it was because his legs were longer; I mean, I never was tall.

Whatever, being tall probably isn't all it's cracked up to be.

(Damn it I wish I was tall)

I clutched his arm, forcing him to walk slower.

"You're too fast."

"You're too slow." He responded, jerking his arm out of my grasp and walking away once again. I glared, but hurried to catch up.

Suddenly, I hated tall people as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Oh man.

I broke something of Sync's.

I _broke_ something of Sync's.

I broke something of _Sync_'s.

Of course my first reaction was to be terrified. I mean, for a fourteen year old, he could be pretty damn scary if need be.

And apparently he felt he needed to be scary whenever I was around.

But as I stared at the shatter instrument (he really shouldn't carry anything glass anyway) I started to wonder if this was really worth getting so worked up over.

And I decided it wasn't.

In fact, I decided to get my payback in the most childish way possible.

I was going to break all his possessions.

Smiling evilly, I scampered over to his bag (which has so much more interesting things than mine) and pulled something else out.

It was Gald.

So I took it.

I pulled something else out quickly, hoping for something interesting.

It looked breakable.

So I broke it.

I reached in again, wrapping my small fingers around something and tugging at it.

Yeah, too bad it didn't budge.

Stepping on the straps of the backpack to keep it down, I pulled harder. It popped out, and—smiling like an idiot as I fell hard on my backside—I looked at my prize.

Sync had a backup mask.

I always thought he had a funny looking mask. As I fingered the one in my hands, I realized how much it really looked like a beak. Giggling like a mad woman, I held the mask up to my face; only to find it wouldn't stay.

"This kid has a big head," I mumbled, "How does he get this on?" I noticed how dark it was with the mask on "Can he see with this on?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" A voice from behind me asked.

I dropped the mask and turned around, praying there wasn't a green-haired God-general in the doorway.

But there was.

I blinked a couple times, before turning around and putting the mask back in the bag.

Then I turned around.

"Hey…" I greeted, in a way that was supposed to be nonchalant, "How are you?"

"I would ask you the same," I almost replied, "But frankly I don't really care."

Of course he would say that.

"Why are you going through my stuff...?" He trailed off as he saw the shards all over the ground, "What did you break?"

"Well…" I began, "You see, I was exacting my revenge—"

"By breaking my stuff?" He glared—and even with a mask his glare was scary.

"You asked," I said defensively, and he continued glaring. "What?"

"Clean it up."

"No!"

"Yes." His voice was so scary I decided I should probably clean it up.

So, grumbling angrily to myself, (because of Sync and because my revenge backfired on me) I cleaned it up.

(Lorelei, talk about stupid ideas, Luella. Next time, exact your revenge in a way that can't possibly backfire like this)

I finished with about fifteen cuts on my fingers, and glaring at him angrily, I declared "I'm finished."

"Are you now?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, that's kind of why I just said 'I'm finished.'"

"Can you walk on it without getting cut?"

I looked at him as if he was crazy, "I am not walking on that!"

"Which means you don' think you cleaned it well."

"Well, we can just wear shoes and it won't matter if there's still glass!"

"No. Clean. Now."

I glared. The fact that I was uncomfortable with anything puncturing my skin didn't help this situation.

But I walked over it.

"Nothing." I declared.

Wait.

Letting out a cry of pain I fell back on the chair behind me. I lifted my foot, examining a large piece of glass cutting through the skin.

My eyes widened.

I cried out again, throwing my head back over-dramatically, "My foot! It burns!"

"Oh, shut up will you? It's just glass."

"The pain! The pain! I'm going to die! You're trying to kill me!"

"It's just a piece of glass in your foot!"

I was kind of enjoying this now.

"No! It's not just that! You're trying to kill me! You just tried to murder me! I'm going to die by the hands of a green haired fourteen-year old! Lorelei save me!"

"Would you shut up?"

"No! My foot burns!"

With an angry grunt, he lifted my foot and set it in his lap, pulling the shard out of my foot.

"Yow!"

"Calm down, will you? If you keep yelling I won't bandage it up." I glared as he got his bag and pulled out the bandages. He was supposed to be feeling guilty for making me clean and almost killing me. He wasn't supposed to be helping me and make it seem like he's the good guy.

Because he's so totally not.

"There, now you can stop screaming."

I glared.

"Oh, stop being a baby."

"I'm not being a baby!" I immediately defended myself. "You're just being a jerk!"

"Oh? How am I being a jerk?"

"You don't even have to ask that; you're always a Jerk. It's in your nature."

"See? You don't even have a reason!"

I didn't answer, but even if I had something to say (which I totally did) I didn't get a chance to say it. He, either because I annoyed him greatly by my presence or words, stormed towards the door. He stopped just before leaving, turned around angrily, and spat with such venom it made me wince:

"You're welcome."

He slammed the door shut.

Well now I felt horrible. I started to question whether or not to go and apologize. He did help me out and I offered no word of thanks. I decided he deserved some sort of apology, or at least a 'thank you.'

See? I wasn't a complete child.

Feeling worse as I neared the door, I told myself if I wanted us to get along even a little bit, I needed to grow up every once and a while. I turned the doorknob…

The door was locked.

"That little snot…!" I said angrily to myself. He locked the door? Okay, one of the few times I decide to grow up and be a man (err—woman) about something and he locks the door?

Well thanks, Sync, now I can't be all mature about this. Now all I get to do is sit here and sulk.

Angry—and ready to punch something (preferably someone)—I got ready for docking. Looking at the clock, I saw we were about an hour away from scheduled docking, so I figured I should get dressed. Pulling two random articles of clothing out of my bag (I knew I wouldn't like anything, so why bother picking?) I got dressed quickly as I tried to will myself to forget about the bastard I was stuck with.

Yeah right, only if my will was strong enough.

Which it isn't.

(Just in case you didn't get that)

Only five minutes past after I got dressed before I got desperate. I tried to open the door (as if it would magically unlock for me. I'm so pathetic), and when that didn't work, I looked for something to unlock it with.

I tried my nail.

Well—I just ended up breaking my nail.

So then I went looking for something that wouldn't cause me any more pain. I searched my bag. No dice. I was about to search Sync's bag, but then I remembered the wound on my foot, and started thinking up all sorts of ways it could end badly if I looked through his bag, so I decided against it.

Then I went to the small closet in the corner. I opened the door, seeing things like life jackets and such—things in case the ship sank. I pushed everything aside and searched.

Fate seemed to like me today; I found a pocketknife.

Flipping it open, I rushed over to the door (screw no running with knives) and smiled happily. I jammed it into the door, and tried to turn it, but it didn't work.

My smile quickly faded into a frown. I went to pull the knife out of the door, but it wouldn't come out either. I jiggled it in the lock, trying to get it out, but nothing worked. Getting angrier by the second, I placed my foot on the door and commenced angry violent pulling of the knife.

Before I knew it, the door swung open, and I saw forced backwards. I slammed against the wall, and the knife finally came out. The sudden change in pull caused me to let the knife slip out of my fingers, and it crashed through the small window.

I suddenly got a picture of the knife plummeting towards the ocean water.

I turned my head back to see Sync looking at me questioningly.

"What?" I decided acting like nothing happened was the best way to go.

I think he rolled his eyes, but I couldn't be sure. "We docked, grab your stuff and lets go." He said, grabbing his bag and leaving. I picked up mine as well and followed him out.

He was such an idiot. He didn't know I had tried (and failed miserably) to run away? What a dunce.

"And this time don't try to run away."

I gaped at him from behind, and he turned and smirked. "What?" I sputtered, "I-I thought…how did you know I tried to run away?"

"How?" He echoed, "I guess you're just that predictable."

And he turned and walked away, leaving me fuming.


	5. Chapter 5

"I am not predictable!" I yelled after him, rushing to catch up.

"Really?" He replied, "Then were you not trying to run away just now?"

"Well, yeah I was—" he smirked "—but maybe your just psychic."

(Smooth, Luella)

His smirk was gone (score) and he was instead frowning at me. I frowned back.

He started to walk away again. "Don't you walk away from me!" I called after him "I ain't through with you yet! Sync! Stop!"

Yeah, he didn't stop.

I ran to catch up to him, "Sync, walk slower! You're too fast!"

"So you've told me."

I glared, "I hate you," I mumbled.

"The feeling is mutual." I stopped, but he continued walking.

"Hey!" I called after him, "No! You're not supposed to hate me! I'm just supposed to hate you! Wait!"

He finally stopped after stepping off the dock, and I finally caught up to him. "Stop walking so fast." I whined once I reached him.

I think he rolled his eyes at me.

"And to think they sent you, of all people, to kill van." He spat. Yeah, he definitely rolled his eyes at me earlier, "I would've rather_ forced _someone to go than send _you_."

"Well then it's a damn good thing your not the leader then, or you would have drafted all our men and there would be no loyal members left."

I glared.

He glared.

"Aren't they such a cute couple dear?"

Whoa now—I turned around and looked at the old woman smiling at us. I gagged.

"Couple?" I laughed, "Please! That's the most _disgusting_ thing I have_ ever_ heard!"

The old woman laughed, ad I scowled. What did I say that was so funny? She put a hand on my shoulder and whispered; "You know, my husband and I used to fight all the time like you two, and now look at us? We're married!"

"Oh please! WE are not getting married!" I gestured frantically between Sync and I. "No way, no how. Nu-uh, no sir-ee, Never."

Sync looked at me funny and the old woman just smiled. So I scowled back to her, and stormed off in another direction.

Well, I tried, but Sync grabbed my arm and stopped me "You're not going anywhere."

The old woman cooed.

"Okay, we can go somewhere." He said, walking away and dragging me with him.

The old woman cooed louder, "Their going on a date, Dearest!"

My scowl deepened.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I asked, looking up at Sync.

"You go where I go. Don't ask questions."

I glared, "I'll ask however many damn questions I feel like, now where are we going?"

He was quiet.

"Hey! Tell me now, or I swear to almighty Lorelei, I will never stop speaking ever again, you hear me?"

He sighed angrily, "We're going to St. Binah to meet up with the others."

I knew my threat would work.

"See? Was that really so hard, Syncy?"

"Don't ever call me that again."

"Syncy?"

"Yes, that, don't call me that."

"Syncy—"

"Shut Up. Right now." I pouted. He was scary enough at the moment I decided to shut up.

"Sorry." I grumbled.

An awkward silence befell us as he decided to ignore me.

--

After hours of agonizing silence, we had reached St Binah. It was a small town; small but cozy, and I decided I liked it here. Sync was talking with a bunch of the other God Generals.

I looked around uninterestedly as they talked, and spotted a tore in the distance.

Clothing store.

My eyes widened considerably. Boy, did I need different clothes. Lorelei knows these clothes were awful.

It was perfect; First town I get to and there's a clothing store. I thanked Yulia, Lorelei, and whoever else was up there that deserved my thanks.

(Yeah, one problem oh-brilliant-one)

I looked over at the God generals. I don't think they'd appreciate me having a shopping spree here.

Oh well, I though, Sync will have to kill me later.

I need clothes.

I snuck away once they had all turned their attention to the loud one—what's his name? Dist—and none of them noticed my absence.

I smiled as I reached the clothing store. I'd just get a couple outfits I could fight in, and I'd be good. I was so glad I had taken Sync's gald beforehand—on the ship.

I searched through the racks of clothes, trying to find something—anything—in my size.

No such luck.

So, grabbing the smallest size they had (I hated being tiny) I went to the front counter.

"Excuse me?" She jumped and turned around, a young, fairly tall woman with brown hair pulled back messily into a ponytail and brown eyes to match. She smiled.

"Yes? Can I help you?" She asked politely.

"Do you have anything smaller than this?" I asked her, holding up the size. She nodded.

"Sure we do! You're a tiny thing, aren't you?" She asked, laughing. I smiled and laughed with her, but as soon as she turned around I glowered.

"Try these on," She suggested, handing me some articles of clothing. They were fairly simple; a purple off the shoulder top with black pants. She had also grabbed a belt for me and some fishnet for underneath the shirt. I put them on and walked out of the dressing room.

She smiled at me "Looks good. You like?" I shrugged, stretching my leg up to see if the pants were easy to move around in.

"You're flexible." She noted, and I smiled, "Are you in the oracle knights?"

My smile went away.

"Sorry!" She blurted out, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything—" I smiled again.

"Don't worry about it," I laughed, "I guess…you could say I'm a part of the Oracle knights."

She nodded, "So do you want those?"

I nodded, "Sure"

--

I had purchased the clothes (with Sync's money -insert evil laugh here-) And I got another back up outfit for when I needed to wash this. I walked out, planning to subtly sneak back to place with the God-generals.

They weren't there.

(If I had thought things through, I would've figured out they would notice the change in clothing, so in retrospect, it was good that they were gone)

I frowned. They left? Part of me felt happy; I mean, hey! I'm free! But another part of me was angry; what, they just forgot about me? And now where was I supposed to go? I hadn't been here before.

I then noticed I couldn't fend for myself; they had my weapons.

My frown deepened.

I was screwed.


	6. Chapter 6

I so did not need this right now.

I went through possible solutions to my dilemma, but nothing came to mind. Every time I tried to think of something, the only thing that popped into my head was 'You're screwed' and that doesn't help one bit.

I sat down at a bench, resting my head in my hands. I figured I could probably walk back home, but I really didn't have a home now anyway. I had gald, but only so much, and I was a little young to get a job, wasn't I?

"Are you okay?" A high-pitched voice asked. I lifted my head and looked up—only having to look back down. Standing in front of me was a small blue cheagle.

"Cheagle…?" I mumbled to myself, but it heard me.

"That's right! My name's Mieu!" I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm, and I reached out and patted his head.

"Well, Hello Mieu," I laughed.

"Thing!" An angry voice yelled, "Get back here!" Startled, I jerked my hand away from Mieu and looked up. A boy with red hair was running towards Mieu with a vengeance, followed by a brown haired girl. I saw two men round the corner behind them, one in a military uniform, the other in normal clothing and blonde hair. And finally, there was a small green haired boy with them.

I never would have thought I'd see another boy with green hair.

The red haired one lifted the cheagle by the ears and shook him around, "Don't run away, thing!"

"I'm sorry master! She looked upset so I came to see what was wrong!" Mieu yelled shakily, while still being swung around the place.

The brown haired girl stepped forward, "I'm sorry about him, he ran off toward you, and…"

I shook my head, "Don't worry," I said, "He wasn't bothering me." I looked around at all of them. "I'm Luella," I introduced myself, "You are…?"

"Tear" the brown haired girl responded, "And this is Luke," She gestured to the red haired one, "Guy," The blonde one flinched as her hand neared his arm, and she moved her hand quickly away, "Ion," Like the Fon Master? I thought. My silent question was answered by his clothing. "And this is—"

He finished for her, "Jade Curtis, Third division of the Malkuth imperial forces. You said your name was Luella?"

I nodded.

"Well, Luella, would you mind terribly if I asked you a few questions?"

I stared at him suspiciously, "Why…?"

"Regarding the company you choose to keep."

I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to agree, but I did anyway. I figured if I spoke to them I might have a better chance of getting out of here.

"Okay…sure…"

--

We had reached the inn they were staying at so he could ask me a few questions. I felt as if I were some convict the way he was treating me. They sat me down on the bed and crowded around me.

His first question was very blunt "What is your business with the oracle knights?"

I didn't know how to answer it. I didn't really want to answer it. I had no loyalty to the oracle knights, but then again I had no loyalty anywhere, anymore. I looked up at Jade and decided not to answer.

"I don't see that being any of your concern."

"Curiosity. As well as we have someone with the oracle knights with us now. We have certain business with the Oracle knights and we want to make sure we know what side your on."

"I can assure you I have no ties with the oracle knights." I assured, deciding honesty was the best policy.

"Then why are you traveling with them."

Well, not always the best policy. I hardly wanted to tell them I had tried to kill the commandant, especially when someone here worked for the oracle knights. So, I lied.

Albeit terribly.

"I…am simply traveling with them for convenience."

"And how is it convenient, may I ask?"

"Um, well I don't really have anywhere to go," I tried to be honest and vague and see if I could get by with that; I wasn't a very good liar. "And I had certain…objectives and I traveled with them, since their objectives are…similar."

I really hoped that came across believable.

"And why aren't you with them now."

"I saw clothes, and how did you know I was with them in the first place?"

"We saw you with them and didn't recognize you, now you're here and their not. You left for clothes?"

"Yes."

"So clothes are more important to you than these 'objectives' of yours."

"Well no! I only had the clothes they gave me, and I hated the clothes they gave me—"

"So you abandon whatever your traveling with them for to get clothes?"

I huffed angrily, "Well, I don't really like them anyway." I mumbled, not meaning for him to hear, but he did.

"Then why do you travel with them? Surely there must be another way to complete whatever 'objectives' you may have?"

Okay, maybe honesty was the best policy. Especially when you're a crappy liar.

"Well, I don't really travel with them by choice…"

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows interestedly. I already didn't like this man. He was kind of like an old version of Sync, except more sarcastic, witty, and lacking green hair.

"Yeah…" He stared at me, waiting for me to continue. "I, um…was ordered to kill the commandant, but one of them caught me, so now I'm a prisoner."

"Aren't prisoners kept in a prison cell?" He asked me, and I nodded.

"Yeah, well…I kind of broke out and then someone caught me again so that Van guy sent me with Sync since he caught me and kept me in my prison cell which led the commandant to believe that he was the only one who could keep me under control so now I have to travel with them or…well there is no 'or' I just have to travel with them."

"And you lied because…?"

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing…" I said, squirming under his gaze. He laughed, which told me he wasn't angry with me.

However, the red haired one—Luke—was not so amused.

"_You_ were sent to kill _Van?"_

I glared, "Yeah, why is that so unbelievable?"

"Well, why would someone want to kill Master Van?"

"He's kind of psycho and he feeds off of other peoples misery—but that's just my theory."

"Please, it's no wonder you got caught. Who would send a ten-year-old to kill Master Van?"

"I'm thirteen!"

"You don't look like it!"

"Hey! I may be small but I can still kick your ass!"

"Just try it!"

I lifted my leg, kicking him in the shin and he gripped his leg, hopping up and down, then I kicked his ankle, causing him to fall flat on his backside.

"There! I tried it!"

"Why you little—I ought to—" He started to get up, but Tear stopped him with one solid "Luke!" as a warning.

He frowned and sat back down.

"Well, that was entertaining." Jade laughed, though I hardly found anything funny, "But if there's somewhere you have to be, I'd leave if I were you."

I looked up at him surprised, "Excuse me?"

"Well, it isn't our responsibility to keep you, so you can leave whenever you want."

I didn't remember ever hearing that I was allowed to leave. Back where I came from, if I said I wanted to leave, I'd be told I have nowhere to go, so I had to stay. Then, captured by Sync, I was prisoner. Of course prisoners couldn't leave.

"Well? Will you be leaving?"

I looked up at him nervously. Where would I go if I left? I didn't have anywhere. It could be better if I stayed…

"Can I stay here?" I suddenly asked. He seemed to be about to deny me, but a small green haired boy, Ion, spoke.

"Jade," Ion cut in. "Would it be alright if she stayed?" Jade sighed and put a hand to his forehead. I decided to drop my hatred of green while I was in this boy's presence.

"I suppose it could do no harm—" I burst out into a wide grin "—You can travel with us if you wish."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed happily.

"You may stay in a room with Tear. Guy, Luke, and I will stay in another room. It is getting rather late, we should get some rest."


	7. Chapter 7

To say I was exhausted would be a major understatement. And, although I had the nagging feeling I was being watched—and the even louder nagging feeling that it might be Sync trying to steal me away into unhappy imprisonment—I decided I would let it go for now and just sleep.

I fell into a dreamless sleep, before awaken by a small thump. I opened my eyes and looked around. It was still night, and Tear was asleep. Curiosity got the better of me and I stood and walked to the window. Looking down, I saw a mop of green hair from the streets below.

I let out a small meep and crouched down, just peeking over the bottom of the window. He stopped walking suddenly and looked straight up at me.

Oh Hell, he knew I was here…

He frowned, and I knew he could see me. He was probably glaring at me. I raised a hand and waved.

His frown deepened.

I laughed.

I knew he wouldn't come here and just steal me away, with the whole gang here and everything. So, extremely giddy with that thought, I stuck my tongue out and made a face.

He turned away.

I went to go back to sleep, while making a mental note to always stay with this gang and if he had a gang too, to be ready to run.

Still feeling exhausted, I fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

--

_I didn't know where I was, but there was something very vaguely familiar about the room I was in; as if I'd been here before. But even as I searched my memories like crazy, I couldn't come up with an answer to where I was._

_It was a relatively large room, but it was cozy, and I liked it a lot. I felt a strange sense of security within these walls, but it only made me even more desperate to remember what this place was._

_I heard the click of a door opening, and whirled around. A small girl; she looked about four, but I never looked my age, so I rarely guessed someone's age by how they looked. She was holding a small wooden sword, which was another clue that she was probably older than four. She wore a big, cheesy grin, and she set her wooden sword on the coffee table. _

_She walked to the kitchen, calling with a young voice "Mama! Daddy! I had the best day today, I learned…" She stopped talking as she saw no one was in the kitchen. She looked around anxiously. _

"_Mama?" She called, walking out of the kitchen and mumbling to herself, "Mamma and Daddy are always in the kitchen when I come home."_

_Something about this, I realized, seemed very familiar. I wondered if I had known the girl from somewhere before I lost my memories, but the young dark haired girl sparked nothing in my mind but a sense of Déjà vu. _

_She continued mumbling, "Mamma should be cooking, and Daddy should be reading the newspaper…"She walked through the living room and into a short hallway._

"_Mamma!" She called again, "This isn't funny! I have something to tell you!" _

_No one answered, but she continued yelling._

"_I learned something new today," She began, "And I got it right on the first try!" She opened a door to a dark room, with heavy curtains and the only light coming from the hallway, which didn't offer much. I could make out a glass table by the glow of the corner, and a few chairs. Something in the back of my mind told me this was the dining room. She ran her hand along the table as she walked across the room._

"_Sensei said I did awesome! I—" She stopped talking and lifted her hand. I couldn't tell what it was, but I was strangely weirded out by it, and a little frightened. _

"_I…" Her voice was a little shaky, but she recovered, walking to the side suddenly, away from the table and towards the wall. "I was really happy, and I thought you'd be proud."_

_She switched on the light and started speaking as she turned around "Sensei told me if I kept up my progress, I could—" Her words died in her throat, and suddenly I found myself looking through her eyes. Red was everywhere, all over the usually white carpet, over the table, and as I looked down, it was all over my hand. I felt myself shaking uncontrollably, and I looked up again. In the corner of the room, where chairs were turned over and the table was cracked, were two bodies._

_Although part of me knew who they were, I couldn't bring their names to mind, but as I yelled out without thinking, I knew, "Mom! Dad!"_

_I realized I wasn't looking through the little girl's eyes anymore, as I watched her run towards her parents. You could hardly tell that these forms were human. They were cut, bruised, and whiter than ghosts. The only way you could tell was by a woman's face turned upward toward the ceiling; he mouth hanging open and her eyes wide and dead._

_I watched, though I wanted to turn away, as the girl crumpled beside the woman. I saw different images flash in front of me. One of the woman laughing and cooking, one of the man spinning me around and lifting me up in the air, but it soon faded back to this scene._

_A scream filled my senses._

I felt myself sit up in bed, my breaths coming quick and shallow. It took me a while to realize it was a dream. I searched my limited memories for anything of that girl and her parents. I was obviously very friendly with them if I had ever seen that.

I quickly realized it didn't have to be anything that happened, it could've been just a dream. But as more details that hadn't occurred during my dream, such as before the girl had walked in, filled my mind, I realized it couldn't have just been a dream.

I wiped my forehead; I had obviously broken into a cold sweat during the nightmare. Everything was so familiar. Especially that girl, but I didn't know where I'd seen her.

I stood up, wrapping the blanket around me tightly, and walked to the small bathroom. I shut the door, leaning against it heavily, and took a few deep breaths. Letting the blanket fall to the floor, I turned on the fosset and cupped my hands under the running water, splashing the water on my face.

I leaned on the counter, staring at the still running water. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to expel the image of that girl's parents from my head, but it wouldn't work. I sighed, turned off the fosset, and looked up at my reflection.

I gasped loudly and stepped back from the mirror as the little girl stared back at me. I squeezed my eyes tightly, and then opened them, and I saw me.

My hands started shaking as I closer inspected my face. I could feel myself sweating again, and my breaths came in shallow once more.

It all fit now; why everything looked so familiar and why I remembered those people so much. As I stared into the more matured face of that little girl, everything became clear.

That house was mine.

Those parents were mine.

And that little girl was me.

And in this moment of complete confusion and desperation, I did the only thing that came to my mind.

I screamed.


	8. Chapter 8

To say I was exhausted would be a major understatement. And, although I had the nagging feeling I was being watched—and the even louder nagging feeling that it might be Sync trying to steal me away into unhappy imprisonment—I decided I would let it go for now and just sleep.

I fell into a dreamless sleep, before awaken by a small thump. I opened my eyes and looked around. It was still night, and Tear was asleep. Curiosity got the better of me and I stood and walked to the window. Looking down, I saw a mop of green hair from the streets below.

I let out a small meep and crouched down, just peeking over the bottom of the window. He stopped walking suddenly and looked straight up at me.

Oh Hell, he knew I was here…

He frowned, and I knew he could see me. He was probably glaring at me. I raised a hand and waved.

His frown deepened.

I laughed.

I knew he wouldn't come here and just steal me away, with the whole gang here and everything. So, extremely giddy with that thought, I stuck my tongue out and made a face.

He turned away.

I went to go back to sleep, while making a mental note to always stay with this gang and if he had a gang too, to be ready to run.

Still feeling exhausted, I fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

_I didn't know where I was, but there was something very vaguely familiar about the room I was in; as if I'd been here before. But even as I searched my memories like crazy, I couldn't come up with an answer to where I was._

_It was a relatively large room, but it was cozy, and I liked it a lot. I felt a strange sense of security within these walls, but it only made me even more desperate to remember what this place was._

_I heard the click of a door opening, and whirled around. A small girl; she looked about four, but I never looked my age, so I rarely guessed someone's age by how they looked. She was holding a small wooden sword, which was another clue that she was probably older than four. She wore a big, cheesy grin, and she set her wooden sword on the coffee table. _

_She walked to the kitchen, calling with a young voice "Mama! Daddy! I had the best day today, I learned…" She stopped talking as she saw no one was in the kitchen. She looked around anxiously. _

"_Mama?" She called, walking out of the kitchen and mumbling to herself, "Mamma and Daddy are always in the kitchen when I come home."_

_Something about this, I realized, seemed very familiar. I wondered if I had known the girl from somewhere before I lost my memories, but the young dark haired girl sparked nothing in my mind but a sense of Déjà vu. _

_She continued mumbling, "Mamma should be cooking, and Daddy should be reading the newspaper…"She walked through the living room and into a short hallway._

"_Mamma!" She called again, "This isn't funny! I have something to tell you!" _

_No one answered, but she continued yelling._

"_I learned something new today," She began, "And I got it right on the first try!" She opened a door to a dark room, with heavy curtains and the only light coming from the hallway, which didn't offer much. I could make out a glass table by the glow of the corner, and a few chairs. Something in the back of my mind told me this was the dining room. She ran her hand along the table as she walked across the room._

"_Sensei said I did awesome! I—" She stopped talking and lifted her hand. I couldn't tell what it was, but I was strangely weirded out by it, and a little frightened. _

"_I…" Her voice was a little shaky, but she recovered, walking to the side suddenly, away from the table and towards the wall. "I was really happy, and I thought you'd be proud."_

_She switched on the light and started speaking as she turned around "Sensei told me if I kept up my progress, I could—" Her words died in her throat, and suddenly I found myself looking through her eyes. Red was everywhere, all over the usually white carpet, over the table, and as I looked down, it was all over my hand. I felt myself shaking uncontrollably, and I looked up again. In the corner of the room, where chairs were turned over and the table was cracked, were two bodies._

_Although part of me knew who they were, I couldn't bring their names to mind, but as I yelled out without thinking, I knew, "Mom! Dad!"_

_I realized I wasn't looking through the little girl's eyes anymore, as I watched her run towards her parents. You could hardly tell that these forms were human. They were cut, bruised, and whiter than ghosts. The only way you could tell was by a woman's face turned upward toward the ceiling; he mouth hanging open and her eyes wide and dead._

_I watched, though I wanted to turn away, as the girl crumpled beside the woman. I saw different images flash in front of me. One of the woman laughing and cooking, one of the man spinning me around and lifting me up in the air, but it soon faded back to this scene._

_A scream filled my senses._

I felt myself sit up in bed, my breaths coming quick and shallow. It took me a while to realize it was a dream. I searched my limited memories for anything of that girl and her parents. I was obviously very friendly with them if I had ever seen that.

I quickly realized it didn't have to be anything that happened, it could've been just a dream. But as more details that hadn't occurred during my dream, such as before the girl had walked in, filled my mind, I realized it couldn't have just been a dream.

I wiped my forehead; I had obviously broken into a cold sweat during the nightmare. Everything was so familiar. Especially that girl, but I didn't know where I'd seen her.

I stood up, wrapping the blanket around me tightly, and walked to the small bathroom. I shut the door, leaning against it heavily, and took a few deep breaths. Letting the blanket fall to the floor, I turned on the fosset and cupped my hands under the running water, splashing the water on my face.

I leaned on the counter, staring at the still running water. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to expel the image of that girl's parents from my head, but it wouldn't work. I sighed, turned off the fosset, and looked up at my reflection.

I gasped loudly and stepped back from the mirror as the little girl stared back at me. I squeezed my eyes tightly, and then opened them, and I saw me.

My hands started shaking as I closer inspected my face. I could feel myself sweating again, and my breaths came in shallow once more.

It all fit now; why everything looked so familiar and why I remembered those people so much. As I stared into the more matured face of that little girl, everything became clear.

That house was mine.

Those parents were mine.

And that little girl was me.

And in this moment of complete confusion and desperation, I did the only thing that came to my mind.

I screamed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yay! I finally updates. I mean, it hasn't been that long, but it's been… you know, like, over a week…**

**That's a long time…**

**I hope you like it! I already have most of the story planned out, I reeeaaalllyyy wanna get to the fluff scenes…(sniffs sadly) I want fluff…**

It was a boy. He looked to be q good few years older than Luella. He had red hair, slicked back out of his face, and falling down his back, ending at his waist. His eyes were a striking emerald, and his skin was slightly pale, he reminder her slightly-no-almost exactly of Luke. He was donned in only black and red armor. He was, quite obviously, angry with her presence.

His glare made that blatantly obvious...

"You're coming with me." He stated, curtly. She stared at him as he approached her, but her innocent stare slowly melted into a hard glare, as she took a step back.

"Yeah, I don't think so." She objected, backing away, he stopped, glaring at her, then sighed exasperatedly.

"Damn, I was hoping I wouldn't have to waste my time on you..." he growled, advancing on her. He drew his sword, and slashed it toward her.

Her eyes widened as she barely dodged the weapon. She dropped to the ground, swinging her leg around. He jumped back, expecting her to attempt to trip him, but when she missed his leg, she continued her rotation until it hit the wood leg of the table. Using the ball of her foot, she kicked the old table's leg, causing it to come off. She picked it up, turning towards Asch.

"You really expect to beat me with that?" He asked, clearly doubting that she had any common sense at all.

She shrugged carelessly, "It'll have to do until I get away from you." She stated, raising the so-called 'weapon.' He struck, swinging his sword down on her, as she blocked it with the table leg. It received quite a large gash, but she continued to stay on defense.

He thrust his sword forward, forcing her to sway to the side to dodge it. She quickly rolled her back over the flat of the sword, kicking her legs over, ending up on the other side (the side nearer to the door) and made a dash for the hallway.

"Hey!" He called, running after her. She rushed down the hallway, into another room, which she suspected used to be a bathroom.

Damn, this place was old...

She studied her current 'weapon' closely, finding it covered in marks from Asch's sword. One more hit and it would have broken into pieces. She tossed it blindly in one direction, reaching out towards the wall, which was crumbled enough for her to see the pipes in them, and pulled out a particularly long pipe. She held it firmly with both hands, it would, normally, have a resemblance to a staff. It was long and thin, reaching near her shoulder when she held it to the ground.

The doors burst open and in came a rushing Asch. He glared harshly at Luella, before swinging his sword above his head, and thrusting it downward. She held up the staff, blocking the hit. For a while, it went on like that, Asch-offense-trying to wear her out so he could bring her back to Sync. Luella-defense-simply trying to get away alive.

He swiped his sword horizontally across, attempting to land a hit on her abdomen, Luella dodged the attack, and, as she planted the head of her staff firmly on the ground, she pushed herself into the air, flipping over Asch and landing directly behind him.

She swung her staff around, trying to hit him, but he simply blocked it with his sword, and with a flick of his wrist, forcing his sword on her staff, pushing it down. She was actually doing fairly well, until...

...her 'staff' broke in half from the pressure...

At the last minute, Asch swung his sword around so that the flat of the sword was pushing her against the wall behind her.

"Th-that's not fair! You cheated!" Luella accused, clearly upset by the fact she had actually lost. He only rolled his eyes, muttering 'Sync was right, you are a child,' under his breath. She struggled under his sword, trying to get up, only resulting in her moving her arm uncomfortably so that the sword actually pierced her skin slightly.

"Stop. Moving." He growled, trying to hold her still, considering she was still squirming, kicking, etcetera. "Van ordered you to be alive, if it wasn't for that; you'd be dead right now."

"Why does he even want me alive?" She demanded, continuing to squirm.

He scoffed loudly, "How the Hell should I know? Now shut up, and stop moving."

"Hey Asch, we got the repli..." A voice called out, but fell short. Both Asch and Luella turned their heads to see a bemused (and seemingly irritated) Sync standing in the doorway. It took until that moment for Luella to realize they were in a very...uncomfortable position.

"…ca…" He finished.

Asch had pinned her shoulders to the wall by the flat of his sword, and had to result to practically pushing his body up against hers to stop her from kicking him. Luella blushed slightly, while Asch (seeming to think nothing of it) simply moved away and shoved her into Sync's arms.

"There," He said, walking past Sync, "I found your runt."

"I am _not _a runt!" She screeched turning to advance on Asch, Sync simply slid his arm around her waist, successfully holding her back. She struggled in his grip, trying to get to said boy who _dared _to insult her height. Sync only tightened his hold.

"You found that dreck? I suppose I should get going down there then..." Asch mumbled, turning to walk out the door.

"Hey, no! You can't leave me with him!" She yelled, gesturing to Sync, before groaning loudly in annoyance, "This all your fault!" She screamed after him, before muttering, "Stupid Luke-look-alike..."

Sync held both of her hands behind her back, pushing her towards the other side of the room, "Hurry up, we have to get to Dist and Asch." He ordered.

"Dist too?" her mouth was left agape and her eyes were widening more by the moment. "Oh great; Just perfect! Dist's here too!"

Sync responded with a harsh shove. "Shut up and walk_, runt_."

**(Groans loudly) Need. More. Fluff…**


	10. Chapter 10

**I need to thank so many people and I have yet to do that, so here it is!!**

**I need to thank Culinaromancer especially, she's always willing to help me with my stories, even though she has a story to work on herself. If it weren't for her, this story wouldn't go half as fast as it does, and I'd probably end up with month long intervals, or longer! So thank you so much to you, Culinaromancer!**

**Also I need to thank all my Loyal reviewers, you know, the ones who only have nice things to say, and actually take the time to tell me how I did and everything...**

**First there's Kazegami-Inkpot, Okay, honestly, she has one of the most amazing stories on Fanfiction, not to mention she's currently working on a sequel, and she still chooses to read and review mine as well! And, of course, only has positive remarks! Thank you Inky!**

**TechNomaNcer28, I need to thank you as well! You always find the time to review my story, and were even my first reviewer if I'm not mistaken, thanks a lot!**

**Gunz Ablaze, thank you so much! I was glad to hear you so encouraging when I was moaning and whining about wanting fluff (yeah, I can get pretty annoying sometimes, can't I?) thank you so much!**

**Thank you! You're all sooo UH-mazing!!(my friend's word-I'm taking it)**

**I'm reeeeaaaalllyyy Sorry if I missed someone who deserved to be mentioned. I just went off those who seemed to always review my story, thanks to all of you!**

"Oh, come on! Why are we here anyway! I'm bored, can't I go somewhere else? I want to see Anise! Can I--"

"Because we have to be here, I don't care, no we can't, too bad, and to whatever you were about to say, the answer is no."

At that moment, Luella realized it didn't take to long to get Sync pissed off.

"But--"

"Damn it, no!"

She mumbled something incoherent under her breath, before turning away and leaning against the wall, crossing her arms and pouting.

It seemed to be going fine until Dist decided to talk... He just seems to screw everything up, doesn't he?

"Could we have something...accidentally happen to her? She's annoying me."

Luella whirled around in her spot, getting up on her knees to glare at him in the distant end on the room, "I'm not even doing anything to you!" She objected, her hands balling up into fists.

It only took a few seconds, but he was soon at a very uncomfortable proximity of her face, "Why don't you shut up and sit still like a good little prisoner?" He acquired, backing away from Luella slightly.

Next thing, Luella's hand was clenched into a fist, her arm outstretch, and Dist was out of his chair, hurtling across the room. There was a crash, a thump, and a groan as Dist hit the wall, then attempted to stand up, only succeeding in falling over again. Luella was clutching her sides to stop from laughing at the befallen God-general.

In a fit of anger, Dist pulled out a remote, and a small robot wheeled up to Luella. She glanced at the contraption, before kicking it in the opposite direction, causing it to fall off the edge of the room.

By now, Dist's face was beat red, and Luella swore she saw stem coming out of his ears. She started laughing.

He growled loudly, "You just wait until my Kaiser Dist X-II is finished! You'll be sorry!"

She didn't answer, she only fell on the floor laughing from his expression.

"Ohhh, this is all going in my revenge journal!" He screamed, as his chair flew to him from behind, he sat down and, pulling out a small notebook, began scribbling furiously.

Luella finally calmed down, getting up off the floor, "That...was fun!" She claimed, between giggles. Dist glared at her through the rim of his glasses, before getting back to writing in his 'revenge journal.'

Luella broke into a fit of giggles again.

--

Sync and Dist were currently enraptured in their work, Asch had long since gone, ever since he had finished with his part of the job...Whatever the job was. Luke, which Luella had recently clarified as 'the dreck' was lying unconscious in a certain chamber.

Sneaking over to the center of the room, she kneeled over Luke on the machine. Shaking him awake, his eyes slowly opened.

"Huh...?" He said, none too quietly, "Wha--"

She clamped her hand over his mouth, glancing back at Sync and Dist, finding them still engrossed in their work. She quietly shushed Luke.

"Let me see your sword..." She ordered, reaching for the hilt of his sword, but he quickly recoiled.

"No way! Not after you tried to kill me last time--" In a frantic gesture, she knocked him out, jumping off the machine and hiding behind it.

"Did you hear that?" A voice asked, one which could be clearly distinguished as Sync's.

"Hmm? What noise?" Dist replied.

"Nevermind..." He mumbled. It was silent after that.

Her breath was slightly ragged, still shaken up from nearly being caught. She wouldn't risk waking Luke up again, not after he refused to lend her his sword, and she'd be damned if she tried to get it while he was out cold. He was practically lying on it, and he's just about twice her size!

She heard fast, light foot steps, a battle cry- from a voice she couldn't recognize- then the sound of something clattering to the ground. She peeked over the edge of the machine.Guy was standing in a battle stance, his sword withdrawn, as Sync- from afar- was kneeling over, he slowly stood up.

She was sure her expression mimicked Guy's, she let out a quiet 'whoa' before stumbling backwards, unintentionally throwing herself into clear view.

Sync was standing there, facing Guy. Everything was as it normally was, except for the absence of one aspect- his mask was off- giving anyone who was looking a clear view of his face. From afar, she didn't exactly get a perfect look, but she could see an uncanny resemblance to the Fon Master Ion.

Sync quickly jumped over to his mask, bending over and sliding it back into place. Luella's eyes were still wide, and her mouth hung slightly agape. Yeah, maybe it was childish- but she thought he hid his face because it was...deformed or something...

But it was normal- more than normal- there was no way she'd outwardly admit to it, but he was- in the only way she would allow herself to put it- 'scarcely attractive.'

Guy quickly picked up the Fon disks before rushing towards the rest of the group, which had now entered. Anise looked over the room, her eyes falling upon a bewildered Luella.

"Luella!" She called, relief evident in her voice (probably from finding out Luella wasn't dead from falling off of a building) as she began running toward her.

Sync's eyes flickered to Luella's fallen form, her eyes noticeably widened as she met his gaze. He gritted his teeth as he caught sight of Anise rushing toward her, and in what seemed like a blink of an eye, he was beside Luella, hoisting her to her feet- quite roughly. Anise froze in her place, before Tear reached out and pulled her back, running out the door with the others.

"Damn it!" Sync hissed, beginning to run for the door, but they had gone. He growled under his breath, before turning towards Luella, whose azure eyes considerably widened. He stalked past her, grabbing her arm and forcing her out the opposite end of the room. She squirmed and gripped the edge of the doorway.

"No! Sync, I want to go with _them_!" she stressed, trying to pry his hand off her arm, which only made him tighten his grip. She winced.

"No, I have orders to keep you under my watch, now let go of the damn wall!"

"Not until you let go of me!"

"Then you'll try to run away!"

She scoffed, loudly, "So?"

"Luella, _Let. Go_."

"No!"

Luella..." He growled threateningly, but she pressed on.

"Nu-uh!"

"You're acting like a child!"

"I'm Thirteen! I have a_ right _to act like a child!" She retorted, wincing yet again as his grip tightened.

"That's it! Fine!" He caved. Yet, contrary to her belief, he didn't let her go, instead her threw her over his shoulder carelessly. She began to scream.

"Hey! That's not fair! Put me down!"

He only ignored her.

"I mean it Sync, put me _down_!"

Yet again, he pretended not to hear, causing her to growl in annoyance.

"Sync--"

He jerked his shoulder so that it jabbed her in the abdomen, she yelped. "Shut up..." He ordered.

He could practically_ feel _her scowl...


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow, this update was pretty fast...fastest update I've had in a while...Well, I hope you like it!**

"It seems they're headed towards Kaitzur Naval Port..." He mumbled, looking out the window of the high room they currently resided in. He was practically guarding the window, considering Luella had previously tried to jump out of it to get to the team. She was now at the other side of the room, pouting- as she always did when angered.

"So what now? Are we going to go after them?" She asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.

"No," he replied, making her groan slightly, "The ship is destroyed, they're most likely going to spend the night there. We'll stay here until tomorrow morning-they should be gone by then."

"Here...?" She echoed, bewilderment stamped all over her face.

"Yes, here." Was all he said, as he turned to face her.

"But this...this place is old, and, and run down and all...old..." She whined, looking around in the worn room.

He quirked an eyebrow indifferently, "Yeah..." He said, before turning back to the window. She moaned slightly, before falling back on the floor, catching sight of an old bed-or couch, she couldn't tell- and a thought came to mind.

"Who gets the bed?" She inquired, staring back at the bed, though still reclined on her back.

"Well, I don't know." He said sarcastically, "Should the _prisoner_"-he seriously stressed this word-"get the bed, or the God-General in charge?"

She glared at him harshly.

"You get the floor."

"But--"

"No buts, you get the floor."

She was silent for a while, before turning her attention to the far corner of the room, dusty and dark, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Eww..."

--

She wasn't aware of how long she had been sitting there, but she knew it had to have been a while. She had begun to try to get to sleep when the sun had just set. The skies were clear and the crickets and cascadas- much to her annoyance- were chirping loudly.

However, now, it was storming, the wind whipping against the side of the manor making a strange moaning noise. The clouds blocked any stars from view, making it impossibly dark.

"S-Sync...?" She stuttered, appalled by how week her voice sounded. He simply grunted in response, most likely trying to sleep.

"Could we maybe light a candle or...something...?" She asked hopefully. She could feel his gaze on her- or at least her end of the room- there was no way he could see her when it was this dark.

"Don't tell me your afraid of the dark..." He mumbled ruefully, she was quiet, staring wide-eyed at the window on the far side of the room. He sighed when she didn't answer "No we can't..."

"But--"

"Go to sleep, Luella."

Her eyes downcast, she brought her knees up to her chest, trying to get the storm out of her head.

She hated the dark- this was true- but she _despised_ storms.

"Sync, what time is it?"

"How the hell should I know?!"

"I don't know..."

There was a long pause...

"It's 2:13 in the morning." Luella clarified.

"And just how would you know that?" He growled.

"I didn't."

"Then how--"

"Steve told me..."

There was an unbelievably long, awkward silence.

"Who's...Steve?" He growled.

"My friend- he's a--"

"Never mind..." he interrupted, "I didn't know storms gave you a chemical imbalance in your brain."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're insane..." He replied simply, making her scowl in defeat. Again, there was a long silence.

"Sync, can I sleep with you?"

He immediately sat up in bed. "What?"

"Please?"

"No." He said, lying back down.

"Why not, I--"

"Because I don't plan on impregnating you any time soon!"

Her eyes were now ten times the size they had been.

"Eww no! I didn't mean it that way, you're disgusting!" She whined, writhing in disgust and embarrassment.

A crack of thunder ripped across the room, causing Luella to yelp slightly.

"Sync make it stop!"

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Use your God powers!"

"What God powers?

"Well, you're a God-general..."

"Yes, a high ranking soldier in the order of Lorelei, not a God..."

She sniffed sadly, "Can I please sleep with you?" She begged, her voice wavering.

He turned his head too look at her, just as a streak of lightening lit up the room. Her eyes gave her the appearance that she could bust into tears at any moment, but instead of looking at him, her eyes were focused on the window.

"...Fine, Whatever..."

Her eyes seemed to lighten up, but because the lightening had long gone, and the room was now dark, he couldn't see. She stumbled clumsily over to the bad, resting on the edge. She seemed to fall asleep instantly, Sync following suit.

--

His sleep hadn't been the greatest. First, Luella wouldn't shut up when he wanted her to, and when she finally did, he was in an off and on slumber, due to the loud storm. The only difference when he awoke now was that he seemed warmer...

He opened one eye to find out the reason...

The two occupants of the bed seemed to had shifted in their sleep. Luella had her head resting against Sync's chest, while she was curled up against him. Her hair was spread around her in a way that caused it to brush slightly against Sync's chin. He had his arm wound around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

He lifted his free hand and fingered her hair slightly, brushing a few stray hairs from her face. He ran his thumb

along her jawline lightly, causing her to yawn cutely and bury her head in his chest, gripping his jacket tightly. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

_She's too adorably cute for her own good..._

As soon as that ran through her head, his eyes widened a fracture. He wasn't supposed to feel this way at all, for anyone, let alone a prisoner.

He had lost everything once, becoming attached to someone will only risk losing them...

With that thought, he did the first thing that came to mind...

--

Yawning slightly, Luella curled into a tight ball to make up for the lack of warmth. Her back hurt like crazy for some reason...

Was the bed this hard when she first got in it...?

She opened her eyes, turning on her back. It was not wonder it felt so hard, she was on the_ floor_..

_Sync_ must have pushed her off...

"Damn it, Sync!"

**Yay! I hope you enjoyed reading that. Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Uggghhh…Jeeze, this morning I felt utterly dead. I had to miss school, which normally wouldn't be that bad, but I would really rather go to school than sit in bed feeling like crap, so you know… I feel better now and all, but I hate being sick! Not to mention life's so boring when there's no one to call, no siblings to bother, no one to talk to (besides my mom but whatever).**

**Yeah…life kinda sorta sucks right now for me, but it's getting better. At least I had time to type, I wouldn't have if it wasn't for being sick!**

**I'll shut up now, I hope you like the chapter!**

Normally, Luella would be silent while they were walking, she never really felt like bothering him if he would just ignore her again. She really could not stand the cold shoulder. So, to avoid that, she just wouldn't speak at all.

This, however, was a totally different situation.

This time, she wouldn't shut up.

"So, are you related to Ion? Like…brothers or something?" She asked, eyeing his mask disdainfully, as if trying to remove it with her stare.

"No." Was his only response, but in her eyes, it was better than nothing.

"Cousins?" She guessed again.

"No."

"…Sisters?"

"Do I look like a girl to you?" He bellowed, turning to face her. She bit her lower lip and avoided his gaze, as if thinking hard about it.

"You know what? Just don't answer that…"

"What about…"

"No, I'm not related to him in any way, shape, or form!"

"…Father son?"

He growled slightly, but that was her only answer.

"Mother Daughter?"

She noticed his jaw clenching.

"Mother son?"

She couldn't see most of his face, but she was sure he was scowling.

"Oh! I know you're—"

"No! I'm not! Whatever you were about to say, it's not right! I am not related to Ion!"

Her face fell noticeably. "Then why do you look so alike?"

He growled loudly, "Because Lorelei decided to make us look alike. Now shut the hell up before I lose my mind!"

She eyed him suspiciously, mumbling "It's a little late for that…"

He was silent.

"Could you take that mask off?"

"No, I can't"

"Is it stuck?"

"No."

"Then why can't you—"

"Because I said so!" He growled turning his head to face her, before turning his attention back to the path in front of him.

She pouted slightly, slowing her pace. She fell slightly behind, and was now following right behind him. Kaitzur Naval Port was getting closer as they walked.

She had long since decided that she was getting that mask off. No matter what it took, she would get it off.

They approached the entrance to Kaitzur Naval Port. She had to get it off now, if she tried on the boat, she wasn't entirely sure he would hesitate to throw her overboard. So, with that new resolution in mind…

…she jumped on his back and tried to get the mask off.

There was a long string of curses, along with a loud bickering between the two, neither of which could be distinguished as real words. Quite a few guards turned to look at the commotion.

Luella had her legs wrapped around his torso, her arms trying to reach for the mask. Sync was gripping her wrists, stopping her from getting to touch the mask. Just as her fingers brushed against the gold surface of his mask, he lurched forward, and flipped her off his back.

She shook her head slightly, as she sat on the ground in front of Sync, "Oww…" She whined, rubbing her back. She lifted her head to see the face—or at least the mouth—of a furious Sync. His jaw was clenched, and she was positive he was glaring at her. He still had a hold of one of her wrists, and he quickly pulled her to her feet, pushing her forward into the port.

"I just wanted to see—"

"Shut up."

* * *

It was silent, both Sync and Luella were waiting in the room that had been given to them. Luella was glaring at the wall across from her, as she leaned against the wall in the far corner of the room. Sync was lying on the bed, his head towards her, as if he was staring at her.

"Could you stop that?"

There was no reply.

"Really, it's creeping me out."

Still no answer…was he asleep? She knew she was testing her luck, but she stood and walked towards the door. He still hadn't budged. She reached for the handle…

"Don't even think about it."

Damn it!

* * *

Once again, she was leaning against the wall, though she was nearer to the door now, and Sync had shifted his body so that he now, once again, faced her. She scowled, staring at anything in the room but him, "Sync?" She questioned.

As foreseen, there was no answer.

"Sync…?"

Nothing.

"Syyyyynnnncccc….?" He didn't even twitch. She paid close attention to him now, thinking he would have responded by now. His breaths were deep, even, and although she hadn't noticed it before, his frown was gone, there was no expression on his face.

She walked toward him, kneeling by him on the bed. "Sync…?" She called, wearily. He didn't budge. She had to bite her lower lip to stop from beaming. She slowly reached toward his mask, gripping the edge and pulling it off his face. She just managed to pull it above his eyes, when they snapped open.

Her eyes widened as she stared back at him. She had seen his face before, but only from afar. She had seen a resemblance to Ion, but nothing more than a _resemblance. _Now that she would see it up close, she realized he looked _exactly_ like Ion.

That was when she realized his expression had melted into a hard glare. She dropped the mask, bolting out the door. He grabbed his mask, sliding it on as he ran after her.

He caught up with her, pushing her against the wall. Ever though he had his mask on now, she could tell he was seriously pissed. There was no one around them at the time, and she didn't want to think about what he could do to her at the moment.

"I-I'm sorry!" She apologized quickly, obviously scared of him. "I'll never ever, ever do it again, I promise!" She squealed.

His jaw clenched noticeably. She bit her lower lip and lowered her head, looking up at him nervously. He pulled his hand back, letting her slide down to the ground, and stalked off.

As a last attempt to reconcile for what she had done, she yelled after him "You have really pretty eyes!"

He blushed—Thank Lorelei he had a mask to hide it.

**Yayyy!! It's kinda really short, but the nest one will be longer, I promise! Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow, I'm actually very happy about my last chapter! People seemed to like it, so…Yeah. Thanks everyone, for your kind reviews! But man, some people…**

**Can't wait two friggin' days for a review…**

**Whatever, It makes me feel happy that you like it, so I shouldn't complain.**

**By the way, a quick question I need you guys to answer—Culinaromancer, don't you dare answer this, I already know your answer; Can you toast toast? I think you can't, because you toast bread, and toast is already toasted so you can't toast it. I mean, you can toast it more, but then it's not considered toasting because it's already toasted. **

**It's like trying to clear a piece of white paper with white out. It just doesn't make sense to me. Whatever, tell me what you think, Can you really toast toast?**

**God, I'm such a nerd…**

**ONWARD WITH THE STORY!!**

After an unbelievably long—not to mention awkward—boat ride, they were finally in Chesedonia (A/N—I have no idea how the Hell you're supposed to spell that. If you could help me?). Luella was immensely proud of herself for taking the mask off—though she felt horrible for making him so angry.

If guilt was a person—Hell, if there was anyone in the world who was named guilt (not that there would be…damn) they were going to die by Luella's hands. Guilt wasn't a thing she dealt with well. Luella was the kind of person who was just a tad too proud to apologize—when she did she felt utterly pathetic—but she would dwell on every miniscule mistake.

Pathetic? Yes. Annoying? Yes.

Appropriate? No.

Really, she had apologized, and it seemed like he had forgiven her…

Okay, not really, but she was going to pretend he did. She didn't know why she gave a damn. He was pretty much her prison guard, her very, _very_ gorgeous prison guard (she mentally strangled herself for thinking that), but he seemed mad—No, he was pissed off. Not like regular fuming pissed off, more like 'Oh-Lorelei-You-better-watch-out-because-I'm-gonna-kill-you-slowly.'

…And to pair that expression, with Sync—the very same who was almost always scowling—It wasn't the best combination ever. Hell, it was downright scary.

_Never again…_ She vowed silently, staring at the passerby's, looking anywhere but towards Sync. She knew there was another reason, she felt genuinely bad. She disobeyed him—Not that she hadn't done it before, but now, she had revealed his face, and for this scenaria it was like…

_Ripping someone's shirt off randomly, I don't know…_

Enraptured in her thoughts, she didn't realize Sync was calling her name, until he gripped her shoulders and spun her to face him. Her eyes widened considerably, as she found herself staring at the crook of his neck, before he—quite roughly—pulled her face up to look at him.

She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and—though she desperately tried not to—she blushed. She swore she saw him smirk, but brushed it off when he spoke.

"Stay. Here." He ordered, removing his hands from her shoulder, and from under her chin, then stepped back slightly. "I can't have you screwing this up."

She stared at him open mouthed, before gaining her composure, and glaring. This time, she was sure he smirked.

"What if I decide to run away?"

The smirk vanished.

"Then I come after you, and when I catch you—"

"How do you know you'll20catch me?" She countered.

"—When I catch you," He continued, ignoring her outburst, "I'll make your life a living Hell."

"How do you know you're capable of that?"

His head slowly turned down, looking at her. She cringed slightly, not really wanting to know what his answer would be.

The damned smirk was back…

* * *

It wasn't a hard thing, really, waiting, sitting still until he came back. Or, at least, it wasn't supposed to be. However, the fact that she was actually _obeying_ him, listening to his command as if she was his…_accomplice…_

It was a strange thing to be bothered by; listening to someone, actually doing as they say. Letting them get their way just _once_ after you deliberately stripped them of their identity—in a way. He had that mask hiding his identity, whatever that was (her guess was Ion's twin) and she simply snuck up and took it, revealing all his secrets.

She was still a little mad how he overreacted like that. She expected him to glare and put the mask back on—maybe with a quick smack upside the head or something. But when he saw her—his green eyes as wide as saucers—he was just so angry.

Sure, he had gotten mad at her before, he had gotten downright pissed, but now…

…He was so much more than just angry—than just a little pissed off—she couldn't find the right word to use…

His jaw was clenched so tight it looked like it could snap any moment, his forearms—one of which was being used to pin her to the wall—were tensed, his hands clenched into fists. He was breathing raggedly through his nose…

Was he hiding something? Why else would he get so mad that she had seen his face—so he looked like Ion, it didn't matter, there had to be a reason…Something bigger than just looking alike.

Her train of thought was cut short as she saw the group of people rushing by her. She couldn't catch the face of any one of them—until one person.

"Anise!" She called, getting out of the sitting position she had previously been in. She rushed after her, running out of the Alley.

"Anise!" She called again, finally gaining the girl's attention. She looked back, and upon seeing Luella's face she beamed.

"Luella! You're okay!" She squealed, never even faltering in her sprint.

"Yep, better than ever… Tell me, Anise, where are we running?" She inquired, looking back but only catching sight of Luke running a ways behind them—clutching Mieu in what she was sure was an uncomfortable position.

"To the Port!" She replied uneasily, most likely getting tired, "Sync is after us. He did something to Guy, and he tried to take the Fon Disk Data—"

"Fon Disk Data?" Luella echoed, confused.

"Yes," Anise continued—completely oblivious to Luella's cluelessness, "He's chasing us, so we have to get to the port!"

Luella nodded silently. There was so much more to ask. But she would have to wait. To speak—let alone yell—would only waste energy. She hardly knew Chesedonia, and didn't know how far away the port was. It could be only a second away, or another five minutes.

She really didn't want to be kidnapped—if you could call it kidnapping—by Sync _again_…

They made it to the port in only a few seconds, they flew through the gate, boarding the boat.

"Sail the Ship!" Luella heard Luke yell from a ways away, "Hurry!"

The ship—as he ordered—began to sail. Luke jumped on last minute, just as it was sailing.

They were safe—for now at least.

* * *

Sync ran up to the edge of the Port, quietly cursing at himself for not catching them in time. He glared down at the ocean—silently wishing it would just bring the ship back.

"Bye!" A girlish—high pitched, child-like—voice called out. He glanced back up to see  
Luella—her hair blowing forward in the wind—waving to him.

It was as if they were in one of those old movies, where the woman would leave, waving goodbye to their family, their friends, sometimes their boyfriend or husband—

Oh shit, he didn't mean that…

He mentally kicked himself, though, for _ever _trusting her _not_ to run away.

"Looks like you failed again, Sync…" A voice drawled from behind him…Oh! What he wouldn't give to have left sooner!

"Don't you worry about that, I'll get that longhaired, four-eyed…" The man—Dist—looked up to find Sync already on his way out.

"Hey! Wait! I wasn't finished yet!" He bellowed after him. Sync paused but only turned to him and said;

"Just get the Fon Disk Data—along with Luella—and bring them both back to me." He ordered, and just as he began to walk away, he stopped.

"If I find so much as one unnecessary injury on her, your head is mine…" He growled, forcing himself not to think of what dist might—if he was intelligent enough to figure out how to do it—do to Luella. Sync walked out of the Port.

Dist in the distance, scowled, "Ohh! This is all going in my revenge journal!!"

**Hurray!! Sigh, I'm listening to 'Iris' by the goo goo dolls right now…weird band name..Amazing song. I'm totally obsessed with it right now. Lol, any-who, I hoped you liked the chapter! Please review! And answer the question, please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**You know, I was thinking about this story while I was listening to some music. I was listening to 'Over and Over' by three days grace and it reeeaallly fits Sync in this story...**

**You'd have listen to it to understand...**

**But I think it really does...**

**Any who, I just had to mention that, I hope you like the story! **

It had only been about ten minutes since the boat first took off. But Luella was already restless. She wasn't sure if she should tell anyone about the whole sync looking like Ion ordeal...but there was always Guy. He had seen him too; maybe he would know what's going on...

Most of the group was out on the dock, currently, except for Luke and Guy, who were in the room with her. They were enraptured in their conversation—though she really had no idea what they Hell they were talking about...

She needed to talk to Guy, she just had to know what was going on...

"Guy, can I talk to you?" She called from across the room. He turned slightly to look at her.

"Uhh, sure, I guess..." He stuttered, "What about?"

"In private..." She hissed, glaring at Luke from the corner of her eye. He only glared back.

"What if I don't want to leave?" He challenged, squaring his shoulders. Luella reached out towards the bed she was sitting by, gripping the stand, and with a small blast of fonons (she could at least do this much) it snapped in half.

"A-Alright, I'm out, I'm out!" He stuttered—she was sure he wasn't aware that she used fonons, he must have thought it was brute strength. He rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Guy..." She began slowly, "Did you see it...?"

He gave her a confused—yet worried—glance, "Excuse me?"

She seemed to stumble over her own words, "Back at Choral Castle, the mask, and..." She trailed off, but he caught the just of the conversation.

"...You saw it too..." He mumbled sighing.

_Yeah,_ she thought, _I saw it up close and personal, then got chased down the hall and shoved against a wall...  
_  
But she only nodded. "Why did he...I mean..." She couldn't get the words out; it was something strange to speak about.

"I don't know for sure, but my theory is..." He said, pausing for a short time, "I think he's a replica."

She gave him a blank look, "Repli...ca?"

"You mean you never heard of replicas?" he queried, staring at her in disbelief.

She laughed bitterly, "Yeah, I've pretty much been living under a rock my entire life..."

"Well..." He began, "I can try to explain."

She nodded enthusiastically, getting into a more comfortable position to listen better, without fidgeting.

"It's forbidden, but...People--seventh fonists--will get the DNA of someone, and, using the seventh fonon, make an exact copy. They look the same, sound the same, but—unless raised in exactly the same way—they wouldn't act the same..."

Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, so Sync was Ion's...replica?

"You think sync is a replica of Ion?"

"Yes, but I don't know for sure, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions. He could be a relative, or..."

_No,_ she objected inwardly_, I already classified relative as an affirmative no..._"I see..." she murmured. There was a rapping at the door.

"Yeah?" Luella called, the door opened.

It was Tear, "Luella!" She gasped, "I'm glad I found you, you need weapons, right?"

Luella nodded excitedly, causing Tear to smile, "Good, some with me..."

As fast as humanly possible, Luella bound out the door, bouncing along behind Tear with excitement. Tear led her to a small room, with a relatively young man in the corner...

He was selling weapons.

Luella squealed with delight and ran up to the man, he handed her a list politely of all the weapons he had available. She scanned through the list, pausing on certain weapons, then moving on—but keeping them in mind.

"Tear, how much am I allowed to spend?" She inquired, still focused on the sheet in front of her.

"Well, how much do you want to buy?" She asked, obviously confused. She though Luella would only buy one weapon...maybe two, how many was she planning on getting?

"Ohh, I don't know...maybe...seven?"

"Seven?!" She gasped, "Why seven?!"

"Well," Luella drawled, "I need a sword, some knives would do me good--they sell them in packs, they have a staff here, I like those, maybe a couple guns, and look!" She exclaimed, pulling two things out from behind the man, "Twin swords!"

"But..." Tear objected, "How will you carry all this?"

Luella scoffed slightly, "Watch this." She said.

She pulled out the two guns, strapping them on either side of her belt, then took the sword and put on her right hip, the knives she placed in a pack on her thigh, then the twin swords, she crossed diagonally on her back.

"Tada!"

Tear only shook her head, "How about...three?" She compromised. Luella frowned but nodded and took the Twin swords off, along with one gun and the staff.

"What if it isn't enough?" She whined as Tear paid for the weapons.

"I'm sure it will be Luella." She encouraged as they walked out on deck. The rest of the group had been there.

"What we miss?" Luella asked casually. Anise was the one who answered, as Luke glared hatefully at Luella—most likely for threatening him.

"A strange little robot just committed suicide by jumping into the ocean..." She stated casually, Luella's right eyebrow rose slightly.

"Okay..." She drawled.

They walked out on deck, Luella and Anise chatting as if they hadn't seen each other in years, but a voice cut their conversation short.

"Looks like we meet again Jade..." It drawled. Luella recognized that voice immediately.

"Damn it..." she murmured under her breath.

"Well if it isn't Dist the runny..." Jade drawled teasingly, Dist's face paled.

"It's Rose! R-O-S-E Rose!"

"Don't you mean Dist the reaper?" Anise questioned.

"It's Rose Damn it! Rose!!" He bellowed.

"Careful," Jade warned, "You know how your nose runs when you get angry..."

Dist growled threateningly, "No it doesn't!" He growled once again, "Just give me the fon disk data!"

"You mean this?" Jade asked, holding up a few documents. Dist swooped in and swiped them out of his hands.

"How careless Jade." He bragged.

"You can have them; I've already memorized their contents..."

Dist froze, his face turning red, "Oh, you'll pay for that! Kaizer Dist X!!" He screamed.

As he called the name, a giant robot appeared—its head a giant sphere, with small legs and two giant arms, one with a claw, the other with a drill. The whole of it was a bronze color.

They broke out into a fight. Damn, Luella was happy she got her weapons again.

The robot took a swipe toward Luella, who jumped out of the way easily. She quickly ran up to the robot from behind and stabbed it with her newly acquired sword, but just as quickly as she had came, she jumped back to avoid it's arm swinging toward her. With its other arm--the one applied with a drill--it struck Anise, who fell back to the ground, but quickly got back up.

Luella could tell she was getting weaker. Grabbing an apple gel, she called Anise's name, and tossed it to her. Anise caught it, then looked back at Luella, her eyes widening.

"Look out!" She called, but just as Luella began to turn around, the giant robot knocked her forward, whacking her on the head and sending her forward. The pain left her disoriented for a few seconds, before her vision became a little less shaky; she pulled out the gun, aiming it at the shoulder of the robot's arm.

She shot. The bullet wedged in between two circuits that allowed it to move that arm. The robotic monster shook its arm slightly, but it wouldn't budge.

"Why must you always make things more difficult?" A voice seethed from behind her. She glared back at Dist, who was situated on his chair behind her.

"I have certain orders—you're coming with me." He ordered, reaching out toward her. She stood up to jump away, but the sudden change in positions left her head spinning, and she quickly collapsed back to the floor. Dist smirked and pulled her up onto the chair, using a small attachment to his chair to stop her from struggling. He flew off in his chair.

The fight ended not too long after Dist had left, the team had been too busy with the robot, and they didn't get a chance to notice.

"Hey, Luella, great job with the..." Anise began, but trailed off, seeing Luella nowhere, "...bullet..." She finished.

"Where is she?" Luke asked, looking around, "Dist is gone too."

"Uh oh..." Anise whined.

* * *

The disorientation had worn off a while ago, but Luella knew she'd have a bruise to remember it by. She was currently squirming, trying her best to get free.

"Let me go!" She ordered, pulling from the contraption...she couldn't budge.

"I don't think so..." He said simply. Luella continued to struggle, though it seemed to get her nowhere.

Or at least, that was what she thought, until she got one arm free.

Dist was completely oblivious to the fact Luella was slowly prying the metal arms off of her, so of course it came as quite a surprise to him when he felt himself being kicked off the chair. He fell off quickly, as Luella climbed into the spot he was previously in, and struggled to take control of the chair. She flew off in jagged motions. Leaving Dist in the middle of the forest they had been flying over.

"Oh no..." He sighed, "Sync's not going to like this..."

* * *

He turned slowly to face him, "You...lost her?" He inquired icily.

Dist stumbled over his own words, "Well, I...I mean, she flew off with my chair and--"

"You_ lost her_?!" Sync bellowed, taking a few long strides up to Dist, "How could you lose her?! Are you saying you have no idea where she is?!"

"Yes," Dist squeaked. Sync grabbed him by the neck, his glare intensifying tenfold.

"You pathetic, good for nothing--"

"Sync, I-I--"

"I told you if I found her injured I'd kill you..." he growled, bringing Dist's face closer to his, "But you _lost_ her...

"I'll make sure to do _so_ much worse..."

He pulled his fist back to bash his face in as the hold on his throat tightened.

"B-But I might know how to find her!" Dist choked out, as Sync froze. His grip loosened, letting Dist fall to the ground.

"How?" He questioned. Dist shook his head.

"I don't think I want to tell you now..." He said, but Sync cut him off.

"Dist, you'd better tell me..." He growled, stepping toward him.

"Okay, okay!" Dist caved, "Look," he said, pulling a small device out. "We use this! It can track down my chair!"

Sync stared at the small device warily, before nodding curtly. "Come on," he ordered, "We're going after her."

**Hurray! I finally have it finished! I hope you liked it!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Yayy updates!! It's kinda short, sorry, but the next one will be longer! I hope you like it!**

He didn't know how long they had been searching--one or two hours maybe? At the most. But, oh Lorelei, did have to _feel_ so damn long?

Dist's device was practically impossible to read...except for Dist, who walked along--running into a few walls on the way--with his head only inches away from the device...

It wasn't a surprise Dist was the only one to be able to read that...that thing. He always did have a peculiar mind. But Sync wished that for once, maybe he could have a mind as strange as Dist's. If it meant finding Luella, knowing she was okay, he'd be happy...

Err, I mean, not getting a boring lecture from Van later...

Yeah that was the reason...

He glanced towards Dist one more time, "How much longer?" He asked. Dist didn't respond, or at least, not verbally. He only pointed towards the hills in the distance, but that was it. Although it bugged Sync to no end to have Dist only speak when he wasn't wanted, and refuse to talk when he was, the hot-tempered teen just kept quiet and kept walking...

Once he was sure Luella was safe, and he didn't need Dist anymore, he was going to kill him...

He held grudges; he didn't just _forgive_ anybody...

_Except Luella,_ a voice nagged in the back of his head. His eyes widened, before he gained composure once more. He _had_ forgiven her--for that incident when she took his mask off. If that had been Dist, there would be a dead body stored in a locked room on the boat as it was headed back to Kaitzur, he wouldn't have simply _let it go_...

Nor would he have _blushed _if Dist said he had _pretty eyes_...

Ugh, why did he get so nervous when she said that again?

Whatever.

Another point pulled at the back of his mind, not just a light tug either, no--it was pulling violently at his head every second, to a point where his head started to throb from the memories...

...She _knew_...

…She must have _known_ he was a replica now…

And not only that, but she knew, _and_ she was with that group, so she could tell them all and he would have no say in it!

He tried to convince himself that's why he wanted to find her, he didn't want her to give him away, but every time he tried to think that, he also thought of what might have happened. And every time he did he got a sudden jolt in his chest...

Okay, yeah, he'd admit it; he did _care for_ the girl. But he'd be _damned_ if he _ever_ admitted to _loving_ her...

_Ever. _

_--_

It was nearly nightfall, how far could she possibly had gone? Ugh, had she stopped yet...

"Is she still moving?" Sync moaned. Dist grunted in reply.

"You think you're tired? I always move around in my chair..." That was the longest reply he had gotten out of him yet...

--

Was that her? There was a glinting in the distance. He was silently hoping it was her, but he wouldn't sound too hopeful, especially around Dist...

What kind of crap would he go telling the others, that he actually wanted to look after her? That he enjoyed being her baby sitter?

_Hell_ no.

But there she was: He could identify her small figure, even when it was only a silhouette in the distance, and he couldn't help but feel a wave of relief wash through him.

Damn it.

He held his arm out, stopping Dist, "I have an Idea," he began, "You go out there and distract her--don't show yourself but...You know, make noise, make her think someone's after her--"

"Someone _is_ after her--" He began, but--due to his long lost temper, Sync only growled threateningly in response.

Dist made a face, "You're very...Territorial..."

"Luella isn't my damned territory, Dist, now shut up and listen!"

Dist seemed to cower in fear at Sync's grimace.

"I'll sneak up on her and catch her," Sync finished, "Do you think you can do that? Or is it too complicated for you to handle?" He sneered at Dist, earning a well deserved glare from his accomplice.

"Yes, I can do it, Sync"

"Good, hurry up."

Dist rushed off toward the girl in the distance, as Sync snuck around and got to her other side. As he got closer, he figured out what she was doing. She was only standing there, her eyes closed tightly, as if trying to relax herself. She had run her fingers through her hair, and her hand still rested on top of her head. A few feet away from her, lay Dist's chair...

…In about four or five pieces...

Oh, Dist would be pissed.

Her eyes snapped open as she heard a scream.

_Not exactly the distraction I was looking for... _Sync scowled, but it ended up working. She whirled around to find the source of the noise. He rushed up from behind and--grabbing both her hands and twisting them behind her back--held her back from advancing on the source of the noise. She thrashed and squirmed, trying to get free. He placed his hand on her head; only to stop her.

She yelped and pulled away, dropping to her knees. She was disoriented--dizzy from the pain--and Sync immediately jumped to a conclusion...

...Though he didn't know it was the right conclusion.

"Dist," He growled, his question coming out slow. He enunciated each word; his teeth were clenched together as he barely managed to growl each word out, "What the Hell did you do?"

Dist squeaked in response. "I didn't do anything, I--"

"That damned robot of yours..." They heard a voice screech, they turned to look at Luella, gripping her head, steadying herself, "I hope they killed it!"

Dist mouthed a small 'oh' as he remembered the incident of how he got Luella to come with him. The robot had hit her in the head, temporarily disorienting her...

He didn't think it would bruise...

Before he could get a second word in, something hard and rigid connected with his face. With a sickening 'crack' he flew back a few feet, he looked up, gripping his nose, and stared at Sync.

He was shaking slightly, his face shadowed, along with most of his body. The right side--the side facing away, considering he was turned slightly away from Dist--was lit slightly from the full moon in the distance. His golden mask was glowing a faint color under the moon. His fist was clenched, a faint scratching of blood on his knuckles.

He had punched him...

His head was turned toward him, a menacing look on his face--or at least you could tell by the slight twitch of his mouth, turned down ever so slightly so that he was frowning.

"Do you have some strange attraction to the idea of death, Dist?" He seethed, taking a step forward. Dist only shook his head in response.

Sync had sauntered up to Dist, and picked him up by his collar, "First you lose her, then I find out you wounded her?" He growled.

"I-I didn't wound her, I only bruised--" He was cut off as Sync dropped him.

"Yes, because that makes _all_ the difference..." He drawled, angrily. "I suggest you leave before you end up classified as 'missing.'" He growled as Dist scrambled up and began to run away. Once he was a good distance away, he frowned.

"Possessive little Bastard, he really doesn't like people messing with what's his..."

…Though he wouldn't _dare_ say that to Sync's face...

**Hurray! Finally an update, though it wasn't too long, I reaaallly wanted to get an update tonight, so…**

**I'm hoping the other one comes soon as well, which it probably will…**

**Hopefully.**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**The next chapter will be long, I promise!!**

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

**I think this one's longer, just by a little, but longer. I hope you like it!**

Gritting his teeth, he willed himself not to follow. He turned to face Luella, who was rubbing her head, avoiding the bruise.

"I would check to see if I had a bump, but that would only end in pain..." She mumbled, feeling around the bruise, carefully avoiding any contact. She would occasionally slip up--just barely--and she would wince.

He walked over to her, when she looked up and saw him; she immediately took a step back.

"Wh-what the Hell? Why are you here?" She screeched, Sync only rolled his eyes.

She was so slow sometimes...

"Well?"

"To get you." He stated, walking towards her again. She glared.

"Oh, hell no. you know, I'm getting real tired of getting kidnapped again and again and again..." She trailed off, taking another step back.

"Then stop running and you won't have that problem..." He said calmly, she glared.

"That's not what I meant," She spat, backing up to a tall rock--boulder more like it--and she could back away no further. Sync noticed this, and smirked maliciously.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" She growled, though he could detect the fright easily.

"Oh, nothing," he replied, finally walking in front of her and placing his hands on either side of her head,

"Wha--" She started, but stopped herself, "I hate you..." She hissed.

"Likewise"

"Then why...?" she began, staring at the position they were in.

"Just thinking of all the different ways I could torture you right now..." he smirked again. Her eyes widened a considerably large amount.

"Wh-What? Y-You can't do that! That's not fair!!" She yelled, her voice raising three octaves. He found it terribly hard to refrain from laughing, but he kept the smirk on his face, nothing else.

He did find it terribly amusing to see her get so worked up.

"Yes," he replied sarcastically, "because I've always been fair."

"You should be, but you're always cheating!"

This made him frown, not because he was offended--it wasn't really an insult, just an accusation--but she could be so childish sometimes. He didn't like the mix in her; small, fragile looking, naive, childish...

She was going to get herself killed one day...

This was exactly why he had to stay with her at all times.

He snapped out of his trance and looked at the girl in front of him. Her eyes were still wide, her face white, and he saw her hands were shaking just slightly. She surely hadn't been in a confrontation like this before, even as an assassin. Otherwise she wouldn't have been so worked up. Smirking again, he ducked his head in a jerking motion.

She closed her eyes and turned her head away, though he had stopped and had his face only a few inches from hers. He chuckled and pulled away. She opened her eyes again and looked up at him.

"Hey! That was mean!" She whined. He looked down at her, she was blushing. Her cheeks aflame with at least five different shades of red.

_Positively adorable..._ He thought, but brushed the thought away.

"Where are we going?" She asked, stepping back again--or at least trying to. Her back was soon pressed against the rock again. He looked back at her.

"To Baticul."

"But what if I don't want--"

"Then I'll make you..." He growled, turning to advance on her. Her hand flew to her hip and he spotted something there...

...A gun...

He grabbed her wrists just as she got hold of the weapon and pinned her arms above her head. She glared at him.

"Where'd you get the weapons?" He asked, sounding uninterested.

"None of your business." She growled in response, he only rolled his eyes. Muttering a small 'whatever,' he grabbed the gun out of her hands, and threw it in the distance.

"Hey--" She began to protest, but was cut off when he picked her up.

Although it wasn't as uncomfortable as last time, she still found their position very awkward. Sure, she wasn't slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but now he had one arms wrapped around her shoulders, and the other under her knees.

_Just like when the groom carries the bride into the house when they're first married...__  
_  
If it wasn't for the fact that her arms were restricted, she would have smacked herself in the head right now.

But not only because she thought that...

...She actually felt comfortable right now...

_I must be going crazy._

_--_

He couldn't believe she had fallen asleep...

Really, here he was, some evil teenager who could lose all self control in an instant and get revenge on everything she had put him through, and instead of struggling--even for a moment--she slept.

Not that he didn't enjoy it; he'd be lying if he said he didn't. He loved watching her sleep...as creepy as that sounded. Just the way she would seem so peaceful, so vulnerable. Instead of the angry, irritated front she usually put on. Usually.

When she was sleeping, it gave him a whole other reason--besides Van would kill him if he didn't--to protect her. She just seemed so...fragile--even more so than usually--when she slept.

She mumbled in her sleep too, not coherently, you wouldn't be able to understand her if your life depended on it, but it was cute how when she would be happy, she would murmur softly. And when she got scared, she would clutch his jacket and bury her head in his chest.

It was weird how interesting he found it. He could never watch anyone else like this, too boring. Even Arietta who would speak full sentences so you knew exactly what she was dreaming wasn't as interesting as this.

Yeah, so it was a little more than cared for. Maybe the word he was looking for was 'liked.'

...But only a little.

…Kind of…

...Barely...

--

Amazingly, they hadn't been too far from Baticul, or at least not far enough that they had to catch a boat. It wouldn't take too long to get there either. It made Sync just a little happier (not that he was happy at all in the first place) that it wouldn't take too long.

Though he did wish he didn't have to deal with the other God-generals. Ugh. He'd rather stay with Luella--and he wasn't saying that in a good way--but obviously that wasn't an option.

Luella had yet to awaken, and it didn't seem like she would wake up any time soon. Not that he minded, the sooner she woke up, the longer he'd have to deal with her squirming and the insulting comments that she would mumble under her breath.

His thoughts were cut short when he spotted a town in the distance, when he suspected to be the port. He figured he could rest there—there must be some inn to sleep in--and continue tomorrow. It was already Midnight. At least.

He considered waking her up, but decided against it. He'd just have to carry her in.

He walked through the town, finding an inn. He walked up to the door, finding a woman to still be at the desk, though it looked like she was packing up her things. He kicked the door open, quite loudly, startling the girl. She looked at him, then Luella. Her eyes continually switched their focus until she finally resulted in staring at him.

She smiled.

"Can I help you?" She asked politely, taking a quick glance at Luella. Sync, ignoring her stare, only nodded.

"100 gald." She stated, pulling a few stray papers out of a certain pile and filing them into her folder. She wasn't entirely focused on the two anymore, she seemed to have gotten over it. But she was still smiling slightly.

He adjusted Luella in his arms, lifting his knee to rest her on, and pulled out some gald.

"There." he said simply, holding Luella tightly once again. She nodded--still smiling, which bugged him--and turned her attention back to her organizing. He left the room with Luella after she had told him which room to go to, but heard her last words she had mumbles.

"I wish I had a boyfriend who cared for me that much...Hell, I wish I had a boyfriend. Period."

His eyes widened slightly. He wasn't her boyfriend...

Ew.

He wasn't even her friend. But if he'd left her back there, Van would've killed him. He desperately tried to erase all thoughts of comfort when she was in his arms.

He wasn't her boyfriend.

And he sure as Hell didn't want to be.

He was going to have to revert back to 'care for,' simply for sanity's sake.

_I'm not her boyfriend..._

_--_

He made it up to the room, and simply kicked the door open. Again.

It had been relatively dark the whole way there. Even in the lobby, the only light was a small desk lamp. So, of course, when he switched the light on, it was a huge difference. Even for the sleeping form in his arms. She whimpered slightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder.

He rolled his eyes, and walked toward one of the beds in the room, unwrapping her arms from his neck and laying her down on the bed. She curled into herself to make up for the lack of warmth.

He walked over to the other bed, looking back at her. She would try to escape if she awoke before him…

He cast a simple fonic arte on the door, and then promptly fell asleep.

She wasn't leaving.

Never.

Again.

**Eheh, yeah, Luella was unconscious for most of the chapter, but…She'll be awake in the next chapter! I hope you liked it, thanks for reading! Please review!!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Yeah, I have practically no life. I must have none in order to update so much. Anyhoo, I hope you like this chapter!**

It was morning--that much she could tell. But everything else was so…weird.

She had just woken up only a few seconds ago. She yawned widely and stretched. Then sat up in the bed she was in…

Wait. Bed?

She looked around herself, trying to find out where she was. She found the reason rather quickly.

There on the bed opposite of her, was Sync.

_Aw, Damn it!_ She thought, scowling. She saw he was asleep, and darted for the door.

He didn't budge! She was positive she would be able to get out of there. She put her hand on the doorknob...

There was a flash, and she was thrown back to the ground.

She cursed inwardly, staring up at the door. _He put cast a fonic arte on the door?_ She seethed, silently, and turned towards the boy's sleeping form.

Damn him and his ability to actually cast a fonic arte correctly.

She had already lost her sword and knives in the freaking plane--er...chair crash. Then he takes her gun. Now, she's locked in a room? With him?

She spotted a small lamp on the bedside table; she reached for it and pulled it off the table--quite violently. Then aimed...

It hit her assailant right smack in the head.

He grunted loudly and rolled off the bed. She saw him kneel and support himself on the side of the bed. He looked towards her, gripping his head.

"The Hell was that for?" he questioned, irritably.

"Why am I here?" She screeched, her voice at least five octaves higher than necessary.

"Because I brought--"

"I know that much!" She interrupted. He sighed slightly--why must she have a total spazz attack now? Of all times? He just wasn't in the mood.

"Luella--"

"Don't you 'Luella' me! I can't believe you even have the nerve to speak my name after what you did! I have a gynormous bruise on my head because somebody," Her glare intensified at this word, "Decided to have the totally incompetent Dist the rose--runny, reaper, whatever--to come after me! And then you kidnap me...again!"

He only stared at her as she ranted. It didn't seem as if she was even talking to him anymore, only like she was counting off everything he had done last night. So he didn't answer, Hell, he barely even listened.

"And I'm forced into this freaking room just until you wake up? The hell I'm gonna' stay here! I want to leave, now!"

"What do you want me to call you?" he asked, she looked at him confused.

"What...?" She asked.

"You said I shouldn't even speak your name," he clarified, indifferently, "what do you want to be called, runt? Midget?"

"I'm not that short!" She objected. Her previous angers seemed to be gone, replaced by new irritation at the word 'short.'

She was so touchy...

"How tall are you, like...four foot, seven?" His plan was working; get her to forget about leaving so she won't try to run away as much.

"Four foot nine!" She objected. He rolled his eyes.

"You're even shorter than Arietta, and she's_ tiny_--"

"Damn it, I'm not short!"

"You could pass for a seven year old--"

"Shut up, shut up, shut _up_!!" She whined, stomping her foot angrily. He was smirking. She glared. Hard.

Her glare melted away for a moment, then reappeared. "You--hey! You were just trying to distract me!"

He shrugged. "It worked." He stated plainly.

"I want to leave! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be shunned out of the one place I could ever call home!" She accused. He looked at her coldly.

"We didn't do that. You did. You got caught. Besides, it isn't home if they're going to shun you for a simple mistake. A real home would save you."

"It was home!" She objected, glaring--but without as much intensity as before.

"No, it wasn't! If that's where you grew up, you must have never had a home!" Anger was getting the better of him. She was getting mad at him for taking her away from a bunch of people who could care less about her?

"Ugh! Yes I did!" She yelled, then her voice got quieter, "...once..."

Her dream--no, her nightmare--ran through her mind once again. Replaying every dreadful moment once more. That was home. That was the only home she ever had...

And it was gone.

It was before even she would stop it, a sob escaped from her throat. She covered her face with her hand and sank to the floor. Sync stared at her incredulously. Just two seconds ago, she looked angry enough to cause a massacre, now she was..._crying?_

Ugh. Why did she have to be so confusing?

He took a few strides forward so that he was standing before her. She didn't look up, but he saw the drops of water on the ground and he could hear her sobbing. Awkwardly, he lifted his arm and placed it around her shoulders, pulling her to him. He expected her to push him away, but she didn't. She didn't move at all, just let herself be pulled towards him.

"I'm...sorry." He strained with difficulty. He wasn't used to this sort of thing...apologizing. "I didn't mean to make you cry..."

She didn't reply, but she wrapped her arms around his torso, shuffling herself so that she was situated in his hold. Her sobs quieted. But she was still sniffling slightly.

Neither of them understood how that turned out that way. Sync didn't understand why she cried, or why he even bothered apologizing. He could understand the argument.

They were both so incredibly argumentative, of course it would turn out that way.

What Luella didn't understand was, why didn't she pull away? She could have just as easily gone to punch him in the face, and if she succeeded she would have received just as much satisfaction.

Sync shifted her in his arms so that his chin was resting against the top of her head. She sniffed quietly, still a little worked up from the cry-fest, and she caught whiff of his scent...

...He smelled like cinnamon and...She couldn't quite place the second scent...

She thought about her previous assumption, she thought she would get as much--if not more--satisfaction from getting a good hit...

Then again, maybe she wouldn't...

**Yeah, still fluff, I'm just a teensy bit addicted to the stuff.****But trust me; they'll actually **_**do**_** something in the next chapter!! Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yay! Next chapter! I got this chapter update…relatively quick. I hope you like it!!**

They didn't know how long they had been lying there; time seemed to be at a standstill whenever they were like that. But, when the time finally came for them to leave the inn, they unconsciously kept a very limited space in between them as they walked. They reached the front desk, but as they approached the door, a long cooing sound from behind stopped them.

"Amber was right; you two do make a cute couple..." A voice commented from behind them. Sync only stiffened, but Luella turned three shades of red and whirled around.

"C-C-Couple??" She stuttered, staring at the girl at the desk incredulously. Sync's eyes narrowed, she must have talked to the receptionist from last night.

Did the two really have to comment on it?

"We're not--No, you don't understand, We--" Luella babbled, but the young girl at the desk interrupted.

"So...you're not together?"

"No!" Luella gasped, shaking her head for emphasis. The woman frowned.

"But you two look so perfect for each other..."

"No, trust me, we're not." Luella said, but froze after she said that. Sync raised a single eyebrow--though it wasn't seen by the public--and stared at her quizzically.

Luella, however, was currently replaying the moment back in the room. Were they 'perfect for each other?'

She shook her head, shaking any previous thought from her head. It was stupid, of course they weren't.

The women's frown deepened. "Well...she said--"

"Forget what she said." Sync cut in--speaking for the first time, "Can we just leave?"

The woman's eyes widened as a blush lit up her cheeks, whether she was embarrassed because she knew she had been blabbering, or because Sync's voice sounded unusually deep and suave. Not to mention he was tall, so he could pass for her age.

Luella growled slightly at the latter option. Stupid old woman, sync was_ hers_.

She ignored that last thought for fear of blushing, and instead kept her attention on the woman at the desk.

"Umm…yeah! Sorry! Thank you for your stay!" She then looked directly at Sync, "Come again soon."

If Luella was annoyed before, she was seething now. Sync didn't seem to notice the woman's shameless flirting at all, let alone welcome it. Neither, however, did he notice Luella's obvious anger.

"Yeah, whatever." He answered uninterestedly, and then dragged Luella out the door. They were walking outside the port, on their way to Baticul. Luella's eyes were still narrowed slightly, glaring at nothing, and she had her arms crossed, with her lower lip set in an angry pout.

"What the Hell are you so angry about?" Sync asked, clearly annoyed by her sudden mood swing.

…Her _second _sudden mood swing.

"Nothing," she snapped, not bothering to look at him. He only arched his brow, staring at her questionably.

"Whatever."

Luella, realizing how much she was overreacting, took a deep, calming breath. He didn't seem interested in the woman, so it's not like it mattered.

Please, it wouldn't matter even if he was interested.

_She was being stupid. _She scolded herself_._

She wanted to leave, see Luke and Tear and Guy…not Jade…but Anise especially. She missed Anise…

But even in this wide open space, she could at least try to run. Even though it would probably fail…

She couldn't will herself to do it.

_Stupid Sync…_ She thought, _this is your entire fault…_

_--_

Anise?

Did they just say Anise was there?

Sync was talking with the other God generals, and they had said the wrong name at the wrong time.

Anise…

Luella stared longingly at the entrance a little ways away.

"Please?" She begged again. Sync glared at her.

"No," he said, "You'll just try to run away."

"I won't I promise!"

Sync gave her a doubtful glance, before answering with a harsh "no."

She didn't listen.

He turned away, conversing with the others again. She ticked off the seconds in her head…

…1, 2, 3…

And she dashed towards a large crowd bound for the entrance. Hiding herself in the middle, she heard a boyish voice yell:

"Where the Hell did she go?!"

The crowd entered and she immediately parted with them, though they hadn't seen her. This was one of the few times she was thankful for her small stature.

She was hidden so well.

She bound off to find Anise in the vast city.

--

Damn it! Why the Hell did he ever trust her enough to even turn his back on her? He thought he could do as much.

Obviously he couldn't.

He rushed into the city, turning his head every which way, trying to find the girl. He ran across the huge crowd. He stopped at a group of three men.

"Have you seen a girl here? Black hair, blue eyes, really small?" He gestured to his shoulder, "About this tall, maybe shorter?"

The men conversed with each other for a few seconds with Sync, before turning back to him.

"Nope."

Sync was about to turn and walk away, before one spoke.

"'Cept there was this one girl who had black hair, sapphire eyes, was really small—"

"That's who I was looking for," Sync growled, the man shook his head.

"You said blue, her eyes were sapphire—"

"There's no difference!!" He snapped at the man. The one beside him shook his head.

"Nu'uh, there's a difference. But her eyes weren't sapphire, I'd say more aquamarine. "

"Nah, her eyes were a cerulean color, more like." The third one inputted.

"Yeah, they did shine a cerulean color, but I still say they were sapphire."

"Nope, definitely Aquamarine. 'Cept you're right Ryo, they did have a bit of Cerulean—"

"Just where the Hell did she go?!" Sync bellowed, interrupting them. They looked towards him.

"There was no blue eyed—"

"The girl you saw!" He yelled, clenching his fists, "Where'd she go?"

"Ohh—The sapphire—"

"—Aquamarine—"

"—Ceru—"

"I don't care!" Sync growled, picking one up by the collar and raising his fist threateningly. "Where'd she go?"

The man, shaking slightly, pointed around the corner.

"Sh-She ran th-that w-way!" He stuttered nervously. Sync dropped the man immediately, dashing off in that direction.

"He was crazy, eh?" the man—currently sprawled out on the ground, asked the other two.

"Yeah…" one mumbled, and then sat up straight, "I still say they were cerulean."

And so the argument continued.

--

Running along the crowd, he caught sight of a small figure—unusually small, walking along the crowds of people, searching for something—or someone.

"That's her…" he mumbled to himself, charging closer to her. But three people, two men and a woman, stopped him.

The freaking DarkWings…

"Well, well, well…" The woman cooed, staring at Sync. "What have we got here?"

"Get out of the way…" He threatened, taking a step forward. She chuckled.

"Now, now, let's not get hasty."

He ignored her, stepping forward again—walking steadily.

"Oh come on," She whined—he made a mental note that the whining sounded so much less annoying when it came from Luella—and she threw her arms around him, "You're not in that much of a hurry, are you?"

"Let go of me and—Hey, give me that back!" He ordered, retrieving his stolen wallet from the woman's hands. He charged forward, but the men stopped him.

"Hey, kid, do you even know who we are?"

"DarkWings, and frankly, I don't find you all that frightening. Now get out of the way or I bash your skulls in…" He stared at them for a while, and then spoke again, "Or I could bash them in anyway, it wouldn't matter much to me."

"ohhh," The taller one cooed, cringing in mock fear, "I'm so scared, I think I—" He was cut off as sync's Knee came into contact with his abdomen. The man haunches over in pain, groaning slightly, and then was silenced when Sync elbowed the man in the back, causing him to fall to the ground.

He turned towards the other two.

"You move at all, you get even worse." He warned, then ran off to catch up with the girl who had long since run off.

The two stared in horror.

"Short-tempered little brat, ain't he?" The short man asked ruefully. The woman nodded.

"Yes, but he had a lot on him." She said, pulling out a wad of gald.

"How did you get that? He took the wallet back, didn't he?"

"Yes, but I took the money out as he pulled it away. Come on now, let's go. Fetch him, will you?" She asked, gesturing towards the unconscious man on the ground.

--

He finally caught up with her. There she was in the distance, running her hand through her hair and pouting. No doubt she hadn't found Anise.

She had most of her weight shifted to her left leg, her hip jutting out slightly on the left side. He saw a group of men—boys really, none were older than fifteen—staring at her from afar. Conversing with one another, laughing every once and a while, and sneaking glances at her.

With a glare that wasn't seen by them, he rushed up to Luella, clamping a hand on her shoulder. She jerked her head up to look at him, her eyes widening in recognition.

"S-Sync!" She stuttered. Then laughed nervously, "uhh…hi?"

He glared, but didn't respond.

"I'm…sorry?" She tried, but his glare only intensified.

"I'm really, really sorry, and I'll never ever do it again!" She exclaimed, hopefully.

If it was possible (which it was) his glare intensified yet again.

She sighed. "I said I was sorry!" She whined.

It was then he noticed how less annoying it did sound compared to that woman's.

She pouted at his lack of answer, "Please, please forgive me! I can't stand the cold shoulder! I said I was sorry! I won't ever, ever do it again!" She pleaded. He rolled his eyes.

"You're pathetic."

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" She asked, looking up at him wide-eyed.

"Whatever."

"Yay!" She squealed, throwing her arms around his neck. He also noted how much better it felt when she did that, compared to the DarkWings' woman.

It took every ounce of his will power to do it, but he slid his arms under hers and lifted her off of him. Setting her on the ground again, he caught sight of her pout. What? Was she counting on him to hug back?

He shrugged it off and started to walk again.

"Where to, Tempest?" She asked, running up to him. He turned his head to look at her, and then turned his attention away. She gripped his arms and pulled him back.

"You're going too fast again." She stated, wrapping her arms around his one to slow him down—and also so that she wouldn't fall behind.

"Back to the ship, the Others should know where that group is headed." He explained. She nodded thoughtfully, and then spoke.

"I never found her." She said, referring to Anise.

"I figured as much."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, peering up at him. He shook his head, smirking.

"The way you looked so helplessly clueless, I just thought that—"

"Shut up!" She interrupted, turning her head away from him, but not releasing him arm.

"Would you mind letting go of—"

"Yes, I would mind very much…" She said, he looked at her strangely.

"You'll walk too fast and I won't be able to keep up if I let go."

"You _want_ to keep up?" He asked incredulously, thinking she would try to run away.

"I don't want to be left alone with those weird guys who kept staring at me again!" She whined, gripping his arm tighter, "They're weird and look at me funny."

Sync scowled.

If he ever saw those guys again, they'd end up skewered on Largo's Scythe by the next morning. He'd make sure of that.

**Yes! 1,982 words!! I'm so happy…I hope you liked the chapter! Please review!!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Neeugh, I think my immune system is all screwed up. I was sick like...three weeks ago, and here I am again...But whatever, it gives me time to type my story, so that's good! I hope you like this chapter, review! I got like...three reviews last time...Please review!!**

They were just approaching the Tartarus. They hadn't spoken much for the whole trip there, of course Luella never took the risk of letting go of his arm.

"Well, what if they followed us and as soon as I let go of your arm they kidnap me!" She had argued, Sync only rolled his eyes, but didn't push the subject further. She was so stubborn, there was no way she'd listen to him.

So, here they were, slowly approaching the Tartarus, Luella clutching to Sync for dear life. Though her eyes seemed to droop, and her strides became smaller and less enthusiastic (she was probably enthusiastic in the first place because she was leaving the 'weird men'), and even though she seemed to be getting more tired by the moment, her grip stayed firm.

There was no chance she was letting go until she knew they were away from those men. Sync, like most of the things she did, found it unbelievably childish, and wasn't afraid to voice that opinion, but she only glared and responded with, "As hard as it is to believe, I'd rather be with you, than those freaks."

Well...At least being with him was above being with 'Those freaks.'

They finally approached the Tartarus. Sync walked over towards the side of the ship, where the ladder was.

"Hey," Luella interjected, "How come we can't just go through the door?"

He looked at her strangely, and she knew--even with the mask on--he must have been mocking her. "Oh, of course!" He said sarcastically, "They must be waiting at the door for us right now, ready to open it as soon as they hear us knock."

Then he got serious, "The doors locked, and I don't think they'll hear us Luella."

She scowled, "It was only a question..."

He rolled his eyes."Come on." He ordered, shaking her grip from his arm and placing a hand on the ladder. He began climbing up, Luella following right behind him. He leaped over the side of the boat, landing on the deck. He turned, gripping Luella's hand and helping her in.

"Sync?" Someone called, he turned around as Luella hopped on board. "Who's she?"

It was a small girl with pink hair. She was wearing all black and was clutching a small doll. She held an obvious distaste for Luella.

Sync only glared, "No one." He replied. He wasn't in the mood to explain himself to her. Luella looked at him strangely, what was so bad about introducing her to this girl?

"Who are you?" Luella asked innocently. The pink haired girl looked up at her, almost disgusted.

"Arietta," She replied. Luella clicked two things together--this was the girl Sync said she was shorter than.

"How tall are you?" She asked. The girl stared at her incredulously.

"What kind of question is that?" She sneered, Luella didn't flinch.

"A height question." She clarified, staring at the girl.

Although reluctant, Arietta answered, "Four foot ten...I think..."

"Damn it!" Luella screeched, stomping her foot. Arietta took a step back. "Why is everyone taller than me?"

"Wait, I'm taller than you?" Arietta said, letting some surprise show through, "how tall are you?"

"Four foot nine..." Luella grumbled. Arietta raised an eyebrow.

"That's short..."

"Hey, you're not that much taller!!"

"Maybe not, but I _am_ still taller than you!"

"Why you little--" Luella growled, lunging for her, Sync caught her in mid air, throwing her back to the ground.

"Would both of you shut up!"

Arietta looked up at sync, Scared. "Yes, sorry--"

"No, I will not shut up!"

"Don't speak to sync that way!"

"What are you, his girlfriend?" Luella demanded, Arietta blushed, and was about to protest but Sync stopped them.

"What did I just tell you to do!"

"And what did I just tell you I wouldn't do!" Luella objected.

"Would it kill you to keep your mouth shut for five minutes!"

"Yes, yes it would!"

"Well then," he frowned, "All the better reason for_ you_ to_ shut up_!"

"Hey!" She began, but another voice cut in.

"What is all the racket up here?" It demanded, all three looked up to the doorway, where Asch stood, furious. He scowled when he caught sight of Luella.

"The runt's back?"

"I am not a--Ow!" She screamed as Sync whacked her over the head.

"Shut up!" He ordered. She scowled, but obeyed.

"I can hear you three from the other side of the ship." Arietta looked down, not looking Asch in the eye.

"Sorry..." She apologized."You don't need to apologize," He said to Arietta, turning toward Luella, "The first voice I heard was hers."

"She called me short!"

Sync rolled his eyes, "You are short."

Luella growled slightly, glaring at Sync. He didn't even flinch.

"Sync, would you please keep you're girlfriend under control..."Luella blushed, Sync paled, and Arietta glared--a look that just made you want to keel over and die.

"G-girlfriend?!" Sync stuttered, Luella was sputtering, trying to forma sentence.

"I...we--I mean he--"

"Girlfriend?" Arietta hissed, glaring at Luella.

"No! We're not--he's--I--Ugh!" Luella whined, throwing her arms in the air, waving her hands defensively.

"Damn it Asch--" Sync growled, but stopped when he saw Asch's obvious amusement. He was smirking. He took a quick glance at Arietta, the look on her face told him this wasn't the last he'd be hearing of this.

He pulled Luella up off the ground (she still hadn't gotten up from when Sync pulled her back) and marched towards the door. Luella passed by Arietta, glaring--though still blushing--and he hurried to pull her away.

Ugh, this just wasn't his day...

--

_Stupid Arietta..._ Luella thought angrily, sitting on the bed in the vacant room. Sync had pulled her in there, and left her (locking the door, by the way, to prevent her from running away) to go take care of some business with the others.

She sat cross-legged, placing her elbow on her knee and placing her chin in her hand. Her eyes drooped slightly, she _was_ tired. It was late enough, and the fact that she had been running around town for at least an hour, it wasn't doing her any good.

She threw herself back, lying on the bed. She let her eyes flutter shut...

--

Asch was a bastard.

That's the only explanation he had.

Not only had he said Luella was his girlfriend in the first place, but he said it while Arietta was there.

Yes, the same Arietta who had obviously been crushing on him for months. The same Arietta who already lost her precious Ion, and wasn't ready to lose a look-alike. The same Arietta who was currently bombarding him with questions on his personal life.Which, by the way, was unbelievable annoying. Especially considering the fact he had to repeat that Luella wasn't his girlfriend at least ten times--probably more.

Ah, yes, Asch was a conniving bastard. And though part of him knew that before, he didn't think he was _this_ bad.

He gritted his teeth and willed himself not to throttle the girl in front of him. Pushing passed her, he continued towards the room. He kicked open the door angrily, and stalked in the room, slamming the door behind him, and then glanced around the room, looking for Luella.

On the far side of the room, sprawled out on the bed, was Luella herself. His expression softened slightly at seeing her. He walked over to her, her eyes were closed and her breaths deep and even. She was asleep.

There was no way he would admit it, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of possessiveness whenever anyone even _looked_ at her. He couldn't explain the feeling he had when those boys were blatantly checking her out. Or the feeling whenever she even brushes her fingers against his arm. Or when she would smile at him, the rare smile that was almost never directed towards him.

He didn't realize it but he was instinctively leaning in towards her. Brushing a few stray hairs from her face, he leaned closer. His face was only about a centimeter away from hers...

Her eyes fluttered open.

He jumped back, nearly falling over himself. But her gaze was unfocused, blank. They fluttered shut again and she rolled over, snuggling into her pillow.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Thank Lorelei she wasn't actually awake.

Who knew what she might of done if she actually saw him that close.

**(yawn) kind of boring, nothing much happened, the story's kind of dragging along, but it's...okay. I hope you liked it! PLEASE review!!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Yessssss!! 20th chapter! finally! wow, I've had this story for about two months and I already have 20 chapters...**

**I reeeeaaaaalllyyyy need a life...**

**Enjoy!**

It started with the scream--and though she thought it would end again, as soon as it had started, in the same place as last time. But there was so much more to tell, so much information her subconscious was collecting--bringing to the from of her mind. Bringing it back to life, whether she wanted to remember or not.

It was back--though it was much less vivid and more like looking through a foggy window than anything else. Her dream--her nightmare--was alive and well in her subconscious, feeding her the information she would've asked to live without.

The girl had long since stopped screaming when the picture clicked in--a little late, coming in just after the scream sounded. Thought he picture her mind was providing was unclear and hard to make out, the sound was crisp as a bell.

The girl on the floor quickly scrambled to make as much room as possible between the what-used-to-be-bodies and rushed toward the door. Tears streaming down and flying off of her face as she rushed out the doorway. The way Luella could see every angle of the room--albeit blurry--like she was watching it from someone Else's eyes made it easy to see to see the tears flying to the ground, dampening the carpeted flooring beneath her feet.

The young girl rushed through the hallways of her house. There was a loud crash, and a shattering sound, causing the girl to shriek and whirl around...she was shaking.

She still found it hard to see this girl as her. Yes, the girl's unusually small stature, crystal blue eyes and deep black hair distinguished her from anyone else. But simply the way her aura radiated off of her--so innocent and alluring. It would've made anyone just want to reach out and stroke her head or hug her close, especially now while she looked so unbelievable fragile--so scarred.

It made her wonder if she still carried that fresh innocence. If she still had that alluring nature. With all the moments she had taken someones life--she had never once gotten over the jump of her heart when she heard them take in that last breath--or that sound when they collapsed to the ground. Never had she been able to stand it. But she did in anyway for the sake of her team--her family for the time being.

Maybe, even in the times when she would be sent to kill five to ten people in cold blood, maybe she hadn't lost that childish innocence.

There was another crash, followed by a Long string of curses. The girl backed herself up to the wall, tensing up defensively. then a figure rushed out in the shadows, hiding itself once again in the long shadows of the room seconds afterward.

There was a cold, mocking laugh that sounded from the shadows.

"Who-Who's there?" the girl stuttered, her eyes dancing wildly across the shadowed half of the room.

The voice responded, but it didn't answer her question, "Why...?" It asked. The girl at the wall gulped nervously.

"When he commits such unforgivable acts...when he caused the biggest war I've ever seen...he still lives happily..." The voice, that had been calm up until now, raised in volume.

"He has a family!" It accused, "He took mine away from me, but he still has a family!"

The little Luella just barely caught sight of his figure. If it weren't for the fuzzy outlook of the dream, Luella might have been able to decipher who it was. But all she could distinguish was the spiky look of the hair.

"Well..." The voice--coming from the figure in front of the girl, "We'll just have to fix that..."

The vision seemed to switch to Luella's point of view. She couldn't see the girl anymore, or the room, or the man...

...The only thing she saw was the bloodthirsty look in those menacing blue-green eyes, merely inches from her own crystal ones.

And she did the only thing she could do, the only thing her body would allow her to do.

She screamed.

She screamed consciously as well, leaping up in bed. When her screaming stopped, she placed a hand on her chest--a futile try to calm herself down. Sync--from across the room--woke up immediately at hearing her scream. He had been sleeping at the other side of the room. He stared at her worriedly, but the annoyance was clear in his voice, "What the Hell is wrong now?"

She didn't respond, she didn't even move to look at him.

He stood up and took a hesitant step toward her. She finally glanced at him--frightened. He froze in mid-stride, staring at her in disbelief.

"Luella...?" He called unsure, taking another step. She didn't move--didn't even flinch--but she stared at him warily. As if he could lash out and attack her at any time. He had reached her bed side when it started--the memories flooded her mind and soon enough it was all she could think about. The blood, the voice, the eyes...

She began to cry.

Tears flooded down her face, but she didn't resist them at all. She knew no sooner as she would wipe away the tears would more rush down her cheeks. A heart wrenching sob tore through her throat, as Sync stared at her wide eyed.

He hated it when she cried, he hated it when anyone cried, it was awkward and he had no idea how to comfort them--but it was worse when it was her. She sobbed again, and--desperately trying to stop the waterworks--he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder gently.

He half expected her to lash out and yell at him, or at least pull away. But instead she pulled him closer, burying her head in the crook of his neck as another sob broke through her lips. He patted her back awkwardly.

"It's...Okay...?" He stated unsure. He didn't know how to calm her down. It was easier when he actually knew why she was crying, but he couldn't speak now. What if he said something to bring up the subject she was crying over? He'd be damned if he ever made her cry again.

"No, no it's not!" She objected, burying her head and shuffling closer to him. He couldn't stand the crying, that was for sure--but he wasn't sure he could say the same thing about the close proximity.

He had no problem with that.

"They're gone!" She sobbed, "All gone!"

He tried to calm her down, rubbing her back soothingly, saying "It's okay" over and over and over up until the point where it seemed like he was just a recording. She didn't seem to want to calm down though, and her crying continued.

"Would you please calm down?" He begged, "I don't know how to deal with girls when they cry..."

"You--" She sobbed, "You don't know how to handle girl's. Period." She wailed, not seeing him twitch.

Even when she was crying, she still managed to get an insult in there...But he knew it wasn't worth it to argue with her, so he brushed it off.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly. She gripped his black jacket and buried her head into his chest.

"He's here!" She cried, hiccuping as he put his arms around her securely. "He's here! He killed them, and--" She cut herself off with another sob.

Then it clicked.

It was a nightmare. Something to do with a man who had killed someone close to her.

"It's okay," he whispered softly into her hair, holding her closely--albeit awkwardly, "It's okay, it wasn't real, it's over now."

"No!" She objected, "No it's not! It was all real! All of it!" She curled up into his side, gripping his jacket to the point where her knuckles turned white. She hiccuped again, shuffling awkwardly in his grip.

He didn't answer, only held her closely. He figured maybe talking wouldn't help. It wasn't true--the thing about talking about your problems. At least, not all the time. Sometimes you just can't talk about it.

Her sobs reduced to small hiccups and sniffles. She had curled up on his lap her head buried in the crook of his neck once again. She had calmed down that was for sure.

He began to pull away, "I'm going to go back to bed, I--"

"No!" She cried, gripping his arm, "Please, don't go! He'll come back, I don't want--" Tears had already started dot form in her eyes again. Lorelei knows he couldn't stand through another cry-fest.

"Okay, okay," he said quietly, placing a hand on the side of her neck. He sighed slightly, "I'll stay as long as you need."

She gulped slightly and pulled away. At first he thought she wanted him to go, but noticed she was only making space for him in the small sleeping space. She looked at him expectantly, and he guessed she was wondering why he hadn't moved yet. He sprawled himself out on the bed as Luella leaned into him. She curled up into him--he wondered why she always slept like that.

He wanted to know what was wrong, he wanted her to tell him everything, to explain to him why she had gotten upset. But he knew she would do so at her own time. He just couldn't help it, though, he asked, "What's wrong?"

She sniffed, and he began to worry she was going to cry again, but she didn't. Thank Lorelei.

"I had this nightmare, on my first night with Luke's group..." She trailed off, shaking and snuggling against him. He squeezed her shoulders, trying to calm her down. It worked at the time.

"Th-this time, a man--he--he--" Sync cut her off, worried she was going to cry again.

"Tell me when your ready," he said gently. He felt unbelievably uncomfortable with the silence that followed. The position they were in wasn't the least awkward in the world, either. It wasn't too much different from Choral Castle, and he got that aching feeling of the thought of loosing her again.

But he ignored it.

He never thought that quote, "Ti's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all," to be so true. He still had that feeling she could disappear any moment, but the thought of leaving her now...

It wasn't even an option.

For two reasons: One; Van would kill him if he ever found out Luella had left (he took a brief moment to ponder why Van wanted her in the first place), and two; even if Van wanted her gone, he wasn't sure he,_ himself_, could let her go.

She seemed to had fallen asleep, he could hear her deep, even breaths, and he could see the slight rise and fall of her shoulders. He realized now he had no idea who she really was. Sure, she was that small, short-tempered, stubborn, pretty, 13-year-old girl. But there was something else to her, of course. There had to be.

And that was the part her didn't know.

And, he thought with a sneer, that was the part she wouldn't--and to some extent couldn't--tell him.

He shuffled a little under her weight on the bed. She mewled softly and hid her face in his chest. He nearly smiled, but stopped himself in time. There was something about the girl that drew her to him.

He scowled when he realized she drew nearly everyone to her--even the disgusting, drunken, idiots who think they're so cool but are seriously the most annoying people on the face of the planet.

The faces of those men staring at her from that distance, the 'Weird men' as she put it, immediately flashed in his mind, making him grit his teeth.

He couldn't wait to see them again. And he almost wanted them to try something with Luella--that would give him a decent excuse to bash they're skulls in.

Figuring it had to be at least two in the morning, he halted his train of thought, allowing himself to be lured to sleep by the soft breathing from the girl beside him.

Before the last ounce of consciousness faded from his mind, he silently thanked Lorelei for stopping the nightmares. He couldn't handle seeing her cry.

The thought of her tears seemed almost as horrendous as the thought of her leaving...

**Yayyyy! Ahhh, I love updates! They're so fun and wonderful! yeah, I'm kind of on a no-sleep-high right now. You know when you haven't gotten much sleep lately and you get all hyper and stuff? Yeeeaaahhhh...**

**Anyhoo, I hope you liked the chapter! Please review!!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hurray for updates!! I hope you like this chapter; it took me a while to finish it…**

**Yeah, I procrastinate too much.**

Morning had come quicker than expected--quicker than needed. She had awoken fairly peacefully, until she realized she would actually have to move in a few minutes. She had already lifted her head and taken a glance at Sync, who was sleeping peacefully. Or at least she thought he was; she couldn't tell when he had that mask on.

And she wasn't going to take it off again. She wasn't that incompetent.

She rested her head back on his chest, relaxing again. She didn't close her eyes, afraid she would fall asleep again. It wasn't exactly the fear of sleeping, though, it was mostly the fear of waking up without him there...

She had no idea how it happened. She thought she would be in for a lifetime of torture. She had been caught, and therefore had been forcibly yanked away from her family. Or, what she thought was her family, at least. She was sure she would hate him forever. Even at the times when he saved her sorry ass, like at the pier when she was almost killed by those men from the organization.

She still thought, to a certain extent, that it wasn't true. She tried to convince herself that she hated him, that she would kill him if given the chance. But no matter what, there was always that aching whenever she thought of facing him in a battle.

She sighed heavily, nuzzling her face in his chest, breathing in his strange, undistinguishable scent. She wished they could stay like that forever. But, of course, it seemed impossible. If there could be one moment where there was nothing to worry about. No one out to kill her, no one ordering Sync around, making him leave her (more like force her around).

At least, in this moment, she could lay here and forget about any troubles that could come out of her feelings, her longing. Here, there was nothing wrong. Here with him, no one else, everything seemed to click together.

It wasn't until not too long ago she had realized, hate wasn't what she felt toward him. But she wasn't sure she could call it love, either. There wasn't a word she could come up with that would describe it. She cared for him, that was true, but she wasn't sure if that word described too much, or too little.

She felt something tighten around her waist, pulling her closer. She lifted her head to look up at the boy beside her.

"Sync…?" She called quietly. He grunted in response. He was awake, that was for sure.

"Sync, we really should get up." She said, staring at him. He groaned slightly, wrapping his other arm around her, hooking his hands together.

"Does it really matter?" He asked, staring at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, we can't stay like this forever," She couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice. It wasn't like she_ didn't_ want to stay there forever. It _was_ rather comfortable…

He smirked.

"What?" She asked, annoyed. He only chuckled in response, "What?" She asked again.

"Nothing." he lied, tightening his grip.

"No, really, what were you laughing about?"

"You seemed so sad when you said that." He said, staring at her.

She blushed and glared at him. Placing her hands on his chest and pushing herself up slightly.

"Well I can't say I got the best sleep in the world. After all, waking up from a nightmare like that would make someone pretty tired. Of course I don't want to get up!"

This peaked his interest and brought his attention back to the dream. "What was it about?" He asked, sitting up in the bed and pulling her back towards him. She was leaning against his right side, sitting in between his legs.

"About my Father." She answered.

"You're Father?"

"And my Mother and I. And there was this weird man..." She trailed off, "Never mind, it's a stupid dream."

"If it was really that stupid you wouldn't wake up crying from it." He reasoned. She sighed but decided to tell him about it.

"In the dream, I was about six or seven," She began, "I just came home from something, I don't know what, but I was holding a little wooden sword."

"Did you train when you were a kid?" He asked. She shrugged in response, and answered with a quiet 'I don't know.'

He pushed her forward a little bit to look at her, "You don't know?"

"I don't remember anything from before I was about seven or eight."

"So do you think the dream was true--whatever it was?"

She was quiet for a while, avoiding his gaze, "Yes," she answered finally, "I think it is very real..."

He stared at he for a while, before reaching out and brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. She blushed and looked up again.

"What else happened?" He asked. She stared at him blankly, and then continued.

"I found these bodies...I think they were my parents..." She said quietly, "In a dining room of sorts..."

He stared at her for a while; when he noticed she was unusually quiet, he said, "Go on."

She stared at him, "what's with you this morning?" She asked, he stared, quirking an eyebrow (although she couldn't see because of the mask) and replied slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're so...nice, and...Interested all of a sudden."

He scrutinized her for a while, and then said, "Well, what do you expect? You rarely wake up crying, do you think I'm going to go shouting how pathetic you are for getting upset about you're _dying parents_?"

She winced when he finished. His voice had raised a considerate amount, but she was almost relieved. At least she knew it was Sync, not some perfect-version of him. He just seemed so oddly...caring this morning.

He noticed her cringe when he had finished, and quietly, he apologized. She only nodded at him, smiling a little.

"We really should go; the others are probably waiting for me up stairs." He said, getting up.

"'We?' You mean I have to go with you?"

"Yeah, unless you want to stay here." he replied, uncaringly, as he shrugged his jacket back on. She began thinking of the pros and cons to going.

"Is Asch going to be there?"

"Probably,"

Well, it wasn't exactly that bad to have Asch there, just if he mentioned the whole 'girlfriend boyfriend' ordeal...

"Will Arietta be there?"

"Yeah,"

Still, even though she was taller than her--even though she was apparently _so_ short, she wasn't too bad. Fun to argue with...

...Wait...

"Will--" She barely choked the name out, "_Dist _be there?"

"Uhh...yeah."

That was it.

"I'll stay."

--

She was really starting to regret ever staying in that room. She figured it wouldn't be so bad; she had been locked in a room before...

Even though she tried to run out, broke most of Sync's possessions, and broke a window...

But other than the wretched boredom, there was really nothing to worry about...Or at least so she thought. She had spent all night in that room, so she figured it couldn't be that bad...

The only reason she lived in that room was probably because she was asleep most of the time, and the rest of the time Sync was there.

But here she was, sprawled out on the bed staring up at the ceiling. There was nothing to do.

…None of Sync's things to play with (and most likely end up breaking).

Nothing to entertain herself with, such as a knife or something, maybe she could carve a drawing into the wall.

Not to mention she was pretty sure the door was locked. So there was no hope in going out to find something to do. And even if she miraculously _got out_, there were about fifty kajillion guards out there.

So, as a new resolution of _not _getting her ass kicked, she stayed put...

…Doing nothing.

And nothing had proven to be really, very boring.

Beyond boring even, it seemed as if _Hell_ would have been more fun.

She thought maybe her luck had been getting better. Sync didn't seem to hate her (as much).

He actually gave her the choice to leave the room.

But, her being the total idiot she was known to be, said no and was now suffering for her actions,.

She let out a groan, and attempted to roll over onto her stomach on the small bed...

But rolled too far and fell off...

Yeah, and _she_ was sent to kill Van. Even she was finding it a little far-fetched nowadays.

**Woo! I know it's kind of short, but I'll try to make the next one a little longer!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Wahoo! Next chapter!**

Was that his name being called?

Yeah, he was sure he heard someone say 'Sync'

He lifted his head from his hands and looked around the room cluelessly. He noticed Lagretta was staring at him.

"What?" He asked stupidly. Lagretta sighed.

"You know Sync, if that girl is ruining your concentration this much, we could always arrange for her to be kill"

"No!" he responded a bit too quickly. Lagretta stared at him for a long moment, before he spoke again. "I mean...Van wants her alive. And it's my head that'll be rolling if she dies"

She stared at him, her brow furrowing and her upper lip curling in disbelief.

"No one kills the girl." He clarified.

She only shook her head and they became enraptured in their conversation again. He didn't know why these stupid meetings were called anyway. They'd talk for a split second about their goals, and then focus on something totally irrelevant.

After all, their future was practically planned out for them by Van. There was no use in discussing it.

And that wasn't the best experience ever, considering Arietta was still freaking out about the whole 'girlfriend' episode. She really wouldn't shut up, no matter how hard he tried to ignore her...Well it wasn't doing him any good.

Every time he tried to pretend she wasn't there, she got louder.

He was developing a whole new form of hatred for this girl.

He rolled his eyes as she started to call his name worriedly, sensing that he was becoming detached from the conversation.  
"Yeah, whatever. I'm listening." He replied curtly, placing his chin in the palm of his hand.

He specifically heard Luella's name, and the word 'kill' coming from Arietta's mouth.

"What the Hell did you just say?" he growled, glaring at the girl beside him. She cowered a little, then responded slowly.

"I...Well...I just don't understand"

"No," he interrupted, "what did you say a minute ago. I want you to repeat it"

She stared at him funny, then continued, "I asked, 'Why can't we just kill Luella?' I mean, she's completely useless, and all she causes is trouble"

"No she doesn't." he objected without thinking. As soon as the words left him mouth, Arietta's look darkened.

"You know it's true, I don't understand why you're sticking up for her"

"Would you shut the Hell up for five minutes, Arietta!" He exploded. She stared at him in disbelief, but the others seemed oblivious to they're rebuttal.  
"Lorelei, if your not whining about you're precious Ion, or you're dead 'Mother', you're complaining about Luella! Do you even have to brain capacity to think of anything else? Or maybe you're just that dense"

Her mouth fell agape and her eyes widened, "S-Sync?" She asked unsurely, "Are you okay"

"No," He growled under his breath, "Did you not hear what I just said? Are you going deaf, too"

She looked down, feigning embarrassment. He furrowed brow and the set of her mouth told him she was simply seething with anger at the moment.

"Largo!" He called, said God-General turned toward him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to leave, we're talking about nothing here." He said as he began to stand. Lagretta stood up to protest, but stopped short when Sync slammed the door shut.

She was quiet for a time, until Largo called her name.

"I'll never understand that boy..." She murmured, shaking her head.

--

He stalked down the halls, finding his way towards Luella's room. He came to the door, then glanced at the window near the room. They were arriving the desert.

He didn't knock, he never saw the point in knocking. After all, she was his prisoner--he secretly took pride in the fact he could call her his--and it wasn't like she would change midday.

He opened the door and glanced around the room, finding her nowhere in sight. His brow furrowed--though hidden--and he stepped in. There was a groan from beside the bed, where a scrambled mass of blankets laid. He walked over, and yanked it apart.

"Ow!" A voice yelled as he pulled it out. He looked down and saw Luella, her hair a mess and her eyes livid. She glanced up at him, and he only stared at her questionably.

She giggled nervously, "I kind of...fell off...the bed..." She averted her eyes to the floor, and he had the strongest urge to pull her face back up to his...He missed the captivating shade of blue that had previously been locked on him...

He inwardly beat himself for thinking that.

"Whatever..." He said curtly, leaning over her to toss the blankets on the bed.

"We're almost there," He informed her, "We'll be getting off this ship soon"

She only nodded.

He stared for a while, and after a short moment, she looked up at him. "What?" She asked, wrinkling her nose in a confused manor.  
He kneeled down in front of her, stretching out his arm to rush a few strands of hair from her face, then flexed his fingers to run through the hair on the top of her head, effectively managing the mane of black hair.

She blushed, "What was that for?" She asked.

"I told you we're leaving soon, and you were in no hurry to fix it. Did you really want to walk out like that?" He asked, looking down at her as he stood again.  
"Did it really look that bad"

"Yeah," He answered surely. She glared playfully.

"'Yeah,' great answer." She mocked, rolling her eyes. He only smirked in reply. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it lazily on the bed, then his fingers gripped the hem of his shirt.

Luella squealed, "What are you doing"

He stared at her, bewildered, "I'm getting ready"

"Well don't do it while I'm here!" She said, diving behind the bed. He rolled his eyes again. The placed a hand on his mask to hold it in place as he tugged the fabric over his head.

"Luella, I'm just changing my shirt"

"I don't care! Change somewhere else"

"No"

She poked her head out from behind the bed, her hair was tousled again. He sighed and walked over to her, stretching his arm to pull her hair back again. He was so close, her forehead was nearly touching his neck, and she could see every detail of his chest and stomach, making her blush.

"Your hair messes up easily..." he commented, then stepped back. He fished a shirt out of his bag, then pulled if over his head, and dragged a jacket on.

"There," he said, gesturing to his fully clothed torso, "Happy"

"Not really..." She grumbled, flicking her bangs out of her face with her index finger. He shook his head disapprovingly, before he felt the ship come to a stop.

"Come one, get your stuff together," He ordered, "We're leaving"

**Yay! I hope you liked it! I'm hoping to get the next chapter out soon, so.**

**┘Yeah...Stay tuned!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Okay, so I'm off school--only because I'm sick┘**

**Yeah.**

**I  
Hate  
My  
Immune  
System**

**But I'm not that bad off, I was coughing and my throat was soar and crap this morning, but I took meds and now I'm GRRREEEAAATT!! (Tony the Tiger impression.) Well, not GRRREEEAAATT, but I'm good.**

**Okay, so, I hope you like the story! I'll try to update again soon!**

They had all just left the Tartarus. Or at least a small part of the group had. Asch was literally dragging Sync along, while Largo was keeping a close eye on Sync and Luella--of whom were both walking an abnormally long distance away from the rest of them.

"So..." Luella started, "Where are we going again?"

"Zao Ruins." Sync replied simply. She frowned.

"Where in the name of Lorelei are the Zhao ruins?!"

Sync rolled his eyes, "You've never heard of them?" He asked. She shook her head and he sighed. "They're way over there," He said, gesturing ahead of them, "underground"

She nodded, her mouth taking on the form of an 'o.' She turned toward him. "Hey...Sync?" She called warily.

"What?" He replied curtly.

"Well..." She hesitated, "I was talking to Guy a little while ago--before Dist kidnapped me." Sync's mouth quirked downward at the mentioning of Dist's name.

"Yeah?" He replied to show he was listening.

"Well..." She hesitated--yet again--and bit her lower lip. "We were talking about you and--"

"You were talking about who-now?" He interrupted, glaring. She turned her head away and finished her sentence in one quick breath.

"So is it true you're a replica?" She didn't look at him, but she knew he was scowling. She peeked through her bangs warily, not willing herself to look at him fully.

He was quiet for a time. "Why?" He finally asked, "Why do you ask?"

"Because," She said, furrowing her brow. "I just...I'm curious, I guess."

"Curiosity killed the cat." his frown deepened.

She smiled, "But satisfaction brought it back."

He turned to glare at her, then focused ahead of himself again. "Maybe," he answered her question vaguely.

"Is that a yes?" She asked hopefully--surprised he was answering at all.

"It's a maybe."

She frowned.

"Of Ion?"

He nodded, and she began smiling again.

"What the Hell are you smiling about?" He snapped, taking a quick glance at her. She only smiled bigger.

"You're actually answering." She replied gleefully. His scowl deepened even more--if that was possible.

"How long ago?"

"Two years."

She made a face, "So...You're only two years old?"

He shrugged, "Technically, I guess."

"You mean to tell me I've been flipped by, bossed around by, and close to beaten up by a two year old?"

He smirked, "Yeah." Then his smirk vanished, and he put his hand on her should roughly. "You tell Guy, and I kill you." He threatened. Her eyes widened and she nodded quickly.

"Good," He said, removing his hand from her shoulder, "I don't need everyone knowing."

"Who else knows?" He shrugged.

"Van, Asch," He paused, "you, and that's it--Well, except for Ion himself."

She nodded. "Is replication confusing?" She asked. He looked at her strangely.

"Well, I'm guessing it would be. But I've never replicated anyone, so I wouldn't know."

She nodded, then she looked up at him, "Is it possible for a replica to be replicated?"

"I don't know."

"Oh," She responded simply. "Well, can you--"

"If it's a question involving replicating,_ I don't know_." He growled, getting annoyed.

She huffed, "Well you don't know anything."

He rolled his eyes, "Yes, because Yulia forbid I be some idiot who doesn't know how to do something forbidden. Something that can kill people."

Her eyes widened, "It can_ kill_ people?" She squeaked. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, seems like I know more than you do."

She bit her lower lip, "How does it--?"

"I don't know, ask the Necromancer, he'll know."

She pouted, "But I don't _like_ Jade."

He smirked, "Oh, but you like me?"

"What? No!" She squealed, "I meant I_ hate_ jade, I just dislike you."

"Oh, really now." he said, sarcasm dripping off his tone.

"No, wait I--"

"No, no, I get it..." He assured her. His smirk was still plastered on his face.

She pouted again, "You're not very nice."

"Ah, yes, but you still lik--"

"Shut up!" She said, clasping her hands over her ears. "I may have only disliked you, but you're turning it into hate!"

"Yeah," He scoffed, still smirking, "Whatever."

--

"Well," Ion commented, staring back at the couple as Luella slapped Sync on the arm angrily. "They seem to be getting along."

Asch stared at him as if he had gone insane, "Did you just use sarcasm?" He asked, raising one eyebrow. That wasn't Ion-like.

Ion shook his head. "No," He said, "I really mean it. Look, Sync's smiling."

Asch whirled around to stare at the two. Sync was smirking, but he did that all the time. Especially when he'd won an argument or a battle.

"Yeah," Asch began, scoffing. "_Smiling._"

Largo laughed, "Well, it does seem as if they're enjoying themselves."

Asch turned around, only to see Luella glaring at Sync angrily and Sync still smirking. He saw Luella reach up and smack him on the head.

And when he said reach up--he meant it. Sync was about half a foot taller than her. Maybe more.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

--

They had made it to the Zao Ruins, and Luella actually found it interesting to be miles underground.

"I've never been underground, period. Let alone miles underneath! And just look at this place--It's awesome!!" She had said. Sync just couldn't understand how she could find it interesting, but he didn't ask.

He wasn't sure he wanted to know her reasoning.

But the group had arrived trying to get Ion back, and Now Largo and him were about to fight them off. Asch was back with Ion.

Luke rushed up and swung his sword, aiming for Sync. Sync only ducked underneath the sword and swung around behind Luke. He was about to strike Luke from behind, when Guy rushed up. He lifted his sword for a blow, but the black-clad God-general only rushed underneath the strike and flipped back.

He put both hands together and cast a fonic arte--aiming for Tear.

Luella sat at the edge of the fight. She stared wide-eyed. She wanted to fight against Sync and join the group, but every time she willed herself to stand, Largo would somehow end up beside her and throw her back down.

That had happened a lot this battle.

She hadn't been noticed by the group yet. They were too caught up in the fight.

Or at least that was what she thought before she felt someone twist her arms behind her back and push her forward.

"I'll trade you," She heard Jade's distinguished tone, "Ion for the girl."

The girl? _The girl?_ So she was just _the girl_ now?

"I don't think so," Asch said. Luella glared at him.

Wow, wasn't she loved?

"Very well then," She heard Jade agree, then she felt something sharp against her neck, and in the corner of her eye saw the handle of his spear.

Was he going to kill her?

"Jade!" Anise's shrill voice rang out, "What do you think you're _doing?!_"

"It's either this or we get Ion. It's their choice."

"No deal--" Asch began, but another voice cut in.

"Fine, Deal."

"_What?"_ Asch hissed, and Jade's spear was taken away from her throat. She was pushed forward, but she was caught by someone. She didn't see who.

She turned and saw the group leaving with Ion. Then she looked up and saw who had caught her.

But he let go as soon as he caught her eye--thus, causing her to fall over. He mumbled an apology, then stalked off towards Asch and Largo.

"Yeah, thanks," she murmured sarcastically, getting up. She walked with Largo, while Sync and Asch walked ahead.

"What the Hell was that?" Asch hissed, turning towards Sync.

"What?" Sync replied curtly.

"We could have had Ion, and you screwed it up!"

Sync ignored him.

Asch growled, "All because you had to save you're_ stupid_ girlfriend."

Sync paled, "She's not my girlfriend."

"Yeah, whatever_, Casanova_." Asch growled, and stalked ahead of Sync.

"Damn it, Asch!"

--

Luella didn't catch a word of their conversation. The only thing she caught was when Asch marched ahead of Sync angrily. She was too deep in thought.

She was sure Anise was going to kill Jade for trying to kill the only girl her age that travels with them.

**Yay! (sigh) I love updates...**

**Okay, so PLEASE review!! It would make me very, very, very happy!!!!**


	24. Chapter 24

**FINALLY!! An update!! I hope you like this chapter!**

"Jade! How could you?" the pink-clad girl screeched for the umpteenth time. Said man rolled his crimson eyes and looked down at Anise.

"Anise--"

"Don't you 'Anise' me, Mister!" She lectured, wagging her finger disapprovingly.

"I--"

"I don't want to hear it!"

He quirked one eyebrow. Though it didn't show on his face, her constant interruptions and over-exaggerations were really getting on his nerves.

"She's pretty much my best friend! And you were about to kill her you bas--"

"Use your nice words Anise." He commanded mockingly. She glared, her face heating up with anger.

He sighed, "I wasn't really going to kill her Anise…"

"I don't know what I would have--wait," She froze; mid-sentence, "You weren't?"

He shook his head, "Of course not Anise! Why would an Old man such as I want a death on my conscience?"

She only huffed in response and looked away, "As if you don't already…" She mumbled, sourly.

He simply smirked; nothing more.

--

"Are we there yet?" The youngest of the couple wailed.

"No, Luella, stop asking me that." The other replied curtly, barely above a hiss. Said girl pouted and clutched her bag's strap tightly.

"But I'm tired and we've been walking forever, and--"

"We've been walking for no more than five minutes, Luella."

"In the desert!!"

He rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were supposed to be in shape. Weren't you a trained assassin?"

"Yeah," She growled, "But everywhere I went there were paved streets and the sun wasn't out to get me!!"

His gritted his teeth and forced himself to withstand her whining. If he so much as poked her while she was this snappy, there was no doubt she'd try and jump him.

…As if she could ever take him down…

But, regardless, he played it safe.

Or at least he tried, until Luella began screeching.

"Look! There it is! We're here! Yes, we're finally here! I--Ouch!"

His hand still hovered in the air, a few inches above her head.

"You hit me!" She accused.

"Well…yeah," he replied in a bored voice.

"You can't hit me! I'm a girl!"

"That never stopped my before."

"Why you little--" But she didn't finish her sentence. She tackled him to the ground, but as soon as his back hit the sand, he flipped backwards. She fell over and rolled away a foot or two, while he flipped to his feet.

She got up in a crouch.

"Yulia, woman, what's with you today?" He griped, glaring. She glared back.

He growled, "Lorelei, you'd think you'd gone insane,"

"Don't use Lorelei's name disrespectfully."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Huh?" Was his oh-so-clever reply.

"Do not use--"

"No, I heard you," He clarified, "What does it matter?"

"Well…" She stuttered, "It's rude!"

"Well, what the Hell does it matter? I'm not the most gentlemanly person you'll meet, Y'know."

She rolled her eyes, "Tell me about it," she mumbled.

She crossed her arms and stocked ahead of him, "No if you don't mind, I actually want to get to town."

He gripped the back of her shirt, pulling her back near him, "I don't think so, you're not going anywhere. I'm not losing you again."

"You're making me sound like an object."

"That's practically what you are." They were arriving the town now, but their argument was only growing louder. At least, Luella was. Sync was barely mumbling.

"Excuse me?" She screeched, causing a few people to turn their heads to see the ruckus.

"Luella?" A soft voice called, but she paid it no mind.

"What the Hell did you just say to me?"

"Oh my Lorelei, Luella!" It was louder this time, and it called her attention. She turned around, but before she could get a glance at who it was, she was embraced in a tight hug.

"I haven't seen you in years!" The person, qualified as a man due to his size and his deep voice, pulled her back at arms length. She recognized the jet black hair and white eyes immediately.

Her eyes widened and she got ready to squeal. "Kayden--"

"You haven't grown at all!!"

Happiness gone.

She glowered, but he only laughed and hugged her again.

"Aww, you're still sensitive about that! You know, I'd call you cute if it wasn't for the fact that it's only make you even more mad."

He glower turned into a scowl.

"Ehh, you don't like that either…" he stuttered, but he was still smiling.

"So how old are you now, fourteen?"

"Thirteen," She corrected, confusion etched on her face, she had been mistaken for a ten year old before, even younger, but never mistaken for fourteen.

"But I thought you were two years younger than me…" He said, confused. She rolled her eyes.

"In a month, I'll be fourteen."

He was quiet for a time, before he enveloped her in another bone crushing hug.

"So," He asked, letting go as she coughed and sputtered for air, but his concentration flickered to the boy behind her.

"Can I help you?" He asked rudely. Sync glared.

"Yeah, you can get your hands the Hell off of her." He replied snappily.

"Luella, do you know this guy?"

Her eyes widened as she caught the two glaring at each other, "U-Uhh, yeah, well, S-Sync, this is Kayden. K-Kayden, Sync." She said quickly.

"How do you know him?" Kayden asked, reverting to protective older brother mode.

"He's, well, I'm…" She struggled to come up with something. She couldn't tell Kayden she was Sync's _prisoner_.

One of them might end up smothered into the ground.

"He's…My-my commander."

Kayden raised an eyebrow, and Sync stared at her quizzically.

"Uhh…yeah, you see, I kind of…had…umm, a problem with the boss and I--"

"The boss?" Sync questioned, but she ignored him.

"And, I-umm…joined…someone else…kind of…"

"So…you abandoned your entire organization just because Daimon pissed you off?"

"Daimon?" Sync just looked plain clueless by now.

She hesitated, "Umm…yeah…"

"So you're pretty much an outcast, as far as their concerned…"

She nodded.

"That's great! So am I!"

She stared at him funny, "Huh?" was all she could get out.

"Well, you know how Daimon gets, and I just needed to get away. I wasn't going to stay away forever, but…the freedom felt nice…I don't think I'll go back."

"oh…so…you're not going to kill me?"

"Course not! I haven't seen you in years! Always being gone on missions and all…" Then something dawned on him, "Wait, you're under his command?"

"Yes," Sync answered for her.

Kayden glared at him before Luella stepped in between them--their looks were getting a little to murderous to her liking.

"Hey, how about we go somewhere?" She suggested, "You know, catch up, get to know one another_, not _kill each other…"

Kayden sighed in disappointment at her last suggestment.

Sync only shrugged, not caring.

Luella beamed in false happiness, silently begging Lorelei not to let this end badly…

Too be Lorelei didn't seem to be on her side that day.

**Hurray!! Review please!!!**


	25. Chapter 25

**YESS!! I updated!!! Enjoy, I hope you like it. This chapter isn't very eventful, buuttt….yeah.**

**I hope you like it anyway!!**

"So, what do you guys want to do first?"

Neither one of them answered, they were too enraptured in their little glaring contest to even take notice of her speaking.

She pressed her lips into a tight line.

"Hey, guys?"

Still no answer. She took a step towards them, waving her hand in the space between their faces.

The both turned toward her.

"What do you want to do?" She asked slowly, pronouncing each word.

They blinked. It was strange how two people could hate each other so much, and yet be so similar.

What, so opposites attract, and those who are similar repel?

She sighed, massaging her temples.

"Let me put this into terms that even you two imbeciles will understand," She said slowly.

"We," She gestured to the three of them, "Are going to do something together," She clasped her hands together for emphasis, "And you two," She pointed to the two of them, "need to work with me here.

"What do you guys want to do?"

They both shrugged, and she slapped her forehead.

"Okay…" She said, looking around, "Let's go there."

She grabbed both of their hands, and with one final glare between the two boys, they were off.

--

"It's pure diamond, that is," The sales clerk told her as she eyed a necklace closely.

"It really is pretty,"

"Oh, but we have even more beautiful pieces of jewelry! They're right over here--"

There was a particularly loud shattering noise, and both Luella and the clerk whirled around in surprise.

Kayden had apparently tackled Sync, and they had crashed into the--glass--countertop.

It shattered.

She heard a growl from Sync, who proceeded to flip Kayden over and take a swipe at him.

Luella laughed nervously, turning around and placing the necklace back on the counter and turning to the clerk, who's face was a stunning red color.

She matched the color of the rubies in the still-in-one-piece part of the store.

"So-o…" She began, "Uhh, what was that about other jewelry?"

The clerk exploded.

"Out!" She shouted, "Out of my store, all of you!"

Luella growled, "Okay, guys, let's find something that'll distract you enough to make you stop trying to kill each other."

--

"It's an ancient make," The old man said in his Ancient Ispanian accented tone as he held up a long silver sword, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Luella nodded enthusiastically, "Eh, Guys? Weapons store, _exciting_, right?" She turned to find them glaring hatefully at each other.

She sighed, turning back to the man, "I give up…" She sighed.

There was a huge crashing sound. _Oh no_…She though, turning around slowly, afraid to open her eyes.

This time, Sync had started it. He had shoved Kayden into a wall full of weapons, knocking them all over. Kayden appeared unscathed, but his temper had certainly not been.

He jumped Sync, knocking them both over. In their feud, the knocked into another wall, knocking off all the weapons.

They only stopped when they heard the man yelling at them in some foreign language--what she expected to be Ancient Ispanian--and began shoving them out the door.

He rose his fist angrily, then bent picking up a sword and displaying the fallen tool, still yelling things unknown in a foreign language, then slammed the door picking things up again.

Luella groaned loudly, "What will it take to get you guys to get along?"

"With him?" They both said, "Never,"

She scoffed, "You two are impossible,"

"Don't lump me with him!" Kayden yelled, tearing his glare from Sync and turning to Luella.

"Like you would ever measure up to me," Sync mumbled arrogantly.

"Listen you--"

"Guys, guys!" Luella called exasperatedly, "Come on, there has to be something you guys have in common!"

"No," They replied in unison.

She pouted, then something clicked, "Hey, I know!" She squealed, and they both turned to her, "You're both insanely over-protective of me!"

"Luella," Sync said slowly, "How does that help with anything?"

"Well, it's something you have in common!" She said, "So there's gotta' be more."

They both stared at her expectantly.

"Well…" She began unsurely, "Why are you two so protective of me?"

"Because I don't want _certain _people taking advantage of you," Kayden growled, glaring at Sync.

"Oh, please, like I don't have to worry about that--"

"Guys! No fighting!" Luella yelled, gaining back their attention, "So we got it covered, Kayden's an overprotective older brother type, and Sync's an over-protective…something type. You know, I can't really think of an adjective for you, Sync?"

"How about seducer?" Kayden mumbled.

"Oh, now you think I'm trying to seduce her?"

"No, I _know_ you're trying to--"

"Wait," Sync stopped, "Older brother? You two are related?"

"He's my cousin," Luella shrugged carelessly, and Sync scoffed.

"And I wasted all that time worrying he--" He stopped himself.

"Worrying about what?" Kayden pressed, "You thought I was gonna' take advantage of her or something."

Sync didn't reply, and Kayden went into a fit of laughter.

Sync punched him.

"Why you little--" Kayden tackled him.

Luella rolled her eyes and huffed indignantly. "These two will never change…" She mumbled.

--

"So where are you two off to again?" Kayden asked for the umpteenth time.

"You just keep asking that because you're trying to stall us." Sync accused.

"_No_, no I'm genuinely curious." Kayden denied, facing Luella again.

She sighed, "Akzeriuth," She replied quickly, "and it's getting late, we really should go,"

"I really do think I should come with you…"

"Why?" Sync spat, and Kayden--in turn--glared.

"Because I don't trust you with my--"He put his arm around Luella and pulled her to him, "sweet, innocent, little Luella with the likes of _you_."

"But Kayden--" Luella began, but was cut off.

"Did you know when she was little she was almost abducted?"

"No, Kayden, don't go into that again!" Luella whined while burying her head in her hands.

Sync rose an eyebrow in response.

"Yup, So this guy comes up near HQ, right?" He began, more animated now that the conversation revolved around Luella, "And Luella was, what, eight? And she was playing outside."

"Kayden, really, stop it!" she whined, but he ignored her.

"So there was this guy, and he as just hanging around our HQ and we were getting ready to get him out of there, but then he saw Luella, and he walked over to her. He holds out his hand and said something, we don't know what--"

"I know what…" Luella muttered.

"But you won't tell us," He replied, "Anyways, so he starts to lead her away, and Luella's chatting away like nothings wrong--"

"Because nothing was wrong!"

"Will you stop cutting me off?"

"Come on Sync, lets go." Luella begged as she grabbed Sync's hand and dragged him out of Chesedonia.

Kayden followed.

"Of course, I was there to save her. Turns out this guy was some psycho murderer."

Sync smirked, "Nothing was wrong, eh, Luella?"

"Nothing at the time!" She whined, still pulling him along.

"Oh, Luella was the cutest kid ever! Hey I got a picture!"

"Kayden!" Luella shrieked as he took out a photo, taking a swipe at it, but he held it up high.

Unfortunately, she couldn't reach.

Sync grabbed the picture and took a look at it. Luella looked to be about three, but Kayden said she was at least six. She has holding on tightly to some soldier's hair, pulling it down and admiring it as if it were the most important thing in the world. Said Soldier was beat red, glaring at Luella. A younger-looking Kayden was standing next to them, laughing, and beside him was a woman who was staring at Luella in awe.

"Cute," He replied dryly, handing the photo back. Luella snatched it, (it was finally low enough for her to reach) and looked at it.

She smiled.

"He avoided me for weeks after that. I really did like his hair!"

Kayden chuckled, "Haven't changed one bit, have you?" He asked, ruffling her hair. She pouted.

"Yes I have! I'm taller than back then!" She said proudly.

"Not by much," Kayden murmured.

"Hey!" He started laughing, "I'm still growing!" She lectured.

"Doesn't seem like it."

She growled and proceeded to chase him down the direction they were headed, finally letting go of Sync's hand she had unconsciously been holding as they walked.

Sync only shook his head, he didn't think Kayden was any less childish than Luella.

…This would be a long trip…

**Errgg….short…chapters…**

**Alls well, I haven't updates in forever….soo…at least I updated!!**

**Please review!!**


	26. Chapter 26

**FINALLY I update!! Thank you to my fabulous beta reader Culinaromancer for proof reading this.**

**She made sure I would send this to her so she could proof read it. Thanks goes to Culinaromancer for helping me come up with this chapter!**

**By the by, there's a picture of Luella on deviant art!! If you type in 'Luella fanfiction' it's the first one!! There's a lot of Luella stuff on deviant art. Not my character stuff, but, like…other stuff involving the name Luella.**

**Anywho!! I hope you like this chapter!! Enjoy!!**

"Kayden, shut up."

"And then when she was eleven--"

"Kayden, if you don't shut up, so help me, I will--"

"But then she--"

"Kayden, I mean it, shut up!"

"And she--"

"I swear--!"

"This one time--"

"Damn it, Kayden, _Die_!"

Sync watched in mild interest as Luella pounced on Kayden. Regardless to the difference in stature (considering she was half his size) he fell over.

He leaned over and pried Luella off of her cousin for the umpteenth time, picking her up and placing her on her feet. She continued to glare at Kayden, as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"That was uncalled for," He stated calmly.

"Uncalled for?" She hissed, "Oh, I'll show you uncalled for!" She made a move to tackle him again, but Sync slid his arms tightly around her waist, preventing her from getting near him.

"Sync, let go!" She commanded, squirming in his grip. He rolled his eyes, but complied nonetheless. She threw one quick glare over her shoulder, then marched ahead of the group.

"Luella, do you even know where you're going?" Sync called patronizingly.

"Yes!" She said, not turning around. She suddenly froze in place, turning her head this way and that. She turned back around. "No," She admitted.

He smirked, walking up to her and ruffling her hair as he walked by, "I thought so." she glared and stuck her tongue out, but otherwise said nothing.

"Luella?" An eerie laugh echoed across the desert plain, "There's a face I thought I'd never see again."

The trio turned around to see a man standing in the distance, his arms were crossed across his chest, and he stood prideful--almost arrogant. His blonde hair spilled over his shoulders messily, and his eyes were a vibrant scarlet color.

"Alec, man," Kayden greeted shakily, "Uhh, hey!"

The man, Alec, clicked his tongue in disappointment, "And Kayden," He drawled, "Fraternizing with the enemy…" He suddenly seemed to disappear in a sort of mist, then reappeared between Sync and Luella. "Never a good choice."

Sync took a swipe at the strange character, but he disappeared again.

"Sync, careful!" Luella warned, "He's not someone to mess around with--" She suddenly dropped to the ground, and a satisfied Alec stood behind her.

"She looks cuter when she's sleeping, she should stay like that for a while." Alec stated, staring down at the unconscious girl.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Kayden ordered. Alec hummed in thought, then picked her up and swung her over his shoulder, throwing a cocky smirk at Kayden.

"Too late." And in a moment, he was gone. Kayden immediately threw a glare Sync's way.

"Look what you did!"

"How was this my fault? You didn't do anything! At least I tried to help her!" Sync objected, glaring back tenfold.

"Well, if you hadn't of kidnapped her in the first place!"

"She was trying to kill the commandant!"

"Then let him die!"

"Damn it, this wasn't my fault!!"

"Was too!"

"Was not--Ugh! I'm not taking part in this childish argument with you!" Sync yelled, throwing his arms up and turning away.

"Why not? You are a child." Kayden argued, crossing his arms. Sync whirled around and tackled him to the ground.

--

"I miss Luella…" Anise whined, pouting, "Luke, will you get her back for me?"

"No," he scoffed, "I'm glad the little brat is gone."

Anise's face suddenly got three shades brighter, "What did you just call her?"

"What? She is a br--"

"Say it again, I dare you!" She challenged, shaking her fist in front of her face.

"Okay, okay, sorry! She's not a bra--" Her look made him stop "--uhh…that word…"

She smiled, her face darkening to it's normal tan, "It's okay, Lukie! I forgive you!" She threw her arms around him, and he stumbled backwards.

"H-Hey! Okay, thanks, you can let go now!" Tear shook her head in the background.

"Hey, you guys!" It was an unfamiliar voice, at least to them. Anise let go of Luke and turned around, they saw a silhouette in the distance, which quickly became recognizable.

It was Sync, but there was someone with him. A tall man with jet-black hair and pale blue eyes. The group got into a battle stance. "Sync, what are you doing here?" Anise demanded.

Sync stopped a little ways away from them, "I'm not here to fight."

They all looked doubtful, and Kayden rolled his eyes. "He's not, we want your help."

"And just who are you?" A blonde demanded, holding her bow higher.

He turned his eyes on her, "I'm an angel," He drawled, "Sent from heaven to warn you."

Her eyes widened, and she lowered her bow, "You are?" she asked incredulously.

He made a face, "Uhh…sure?"

"Natalia, he's not an angel!" Tear scolded.

"But he says--" Kayden began to laugh, "--What?"

"No, I'm not an angel, I'm Luella's cousin." It went quiet for a while.

"Luella has a cousin?" Anise exploded, "Hey, are you rich?"

Kayden had a cross of disgust and confusion on his face, "Uhh…what?"

"Oh, Lorelei, Anise!" Sync called, and her eyes snapped up to meet his.

"What?" She hissed.

"Focus on something other than money for five seconds."

"Like what?"

He glared, harder than usual, "Like the fact that Luella might be dying this very moment." Her expression darkened dangerously.

"What did you do?!" She roared, advancing on him.

"Damn it, why does everyone pile this all on me?"

"Anise, calm down," Tear ordered, looking at Sync, "What happened?"

"Luella was kidnapped by a man from Headquarters, his name's Alec," Kayden answered for him, "HQ's down in Akzeriuth, we just need to get there before she's killed."

"How much time do we have?" Jade asked.

"We should have enough," Kayden answered, turning his pale eyes to Jade, "Our Leader's a bit of a…sadist. He likes death to go…public."

"A public execution?" Tear exclaimed, disgusted.

"Yeah," Kayden rubbed his head, nervously, "Will you guys help us? We need all we can get."

It went quiet, but Anise came forward, "I don't care how much I hate Sync--which is a lot, mind you--" She directed this last statement towards Sync. He nodded in understanding, "But Luella's my friend. I'm in."

"I'm in, too," Natalia agreed, "I could never stand back and let someone die."

"Okay," Tear began, then ended in a chorus with Luke, "I'm in."

"I suppose I can take the time to help out a young lady in need." Jade sighed.

"Of course I'll help," Guy agreed.

"Alright then," Kayden said, standing tall, "let's get going."

--

Rapidly blinking, trying to get the sleep out of her eyes, Luella stared around the room. It was plainly decorated, with white calls, white floors, and a small tan bed. There was a door in the far corner and a small window that wouldn't open (she had tried when she was little).

"You have to be kidding me," She groaned, covering her head with her hands.

"Nope, this is all very serious." The voice startled her, but she looked up and immediately recognized the man--Alec.

"Oh Yulia, it's you."

His smile sarcastically, "Nice to see you again, too." Then his smile became more mischievous, and he seemed to be suppressing a snicker "My wife."

"Come on! I was ten!" She whined, "Can't you people let it go? I was ten!"

"But we still got married,"

"When I was ten!" She rolled her eyes, "I divorced you a week later anyway. Remember? You wouldn't take care of the kids."

"You mean the stuffed animals."

"Yes."

"Luella, for the last time, they're not alive."

"This is why you made a terrible father!" She accused, glaring. He stared at her incredulously, then rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, You'll be dead soon anyway." He mumbled. Unfortunately, she heard.

"How?"

He stared at her, "What?" he finally asked.

"How am I going to die?"

He smirked maliciously, "Simple gunshot--nothing spectacular."

--

"Look! Look! Akzeriuth!" Anise cried, running behind Sync.

"I see that." He deadpanned, and Anise frowned.

"We're almost there Luella!" Anise spoke more to herself than anyone else, but her words carried out enough for the whole group to hear, "No need to worry! We're coming!"

--

"Tell me something?" Luella spoke after a long pause.

"What?"

"Do you think Daimon will complete his goal?"

"Duh," Alec scoffed, "Daimon gets whatever the hell he wants."

"So you think he will?" She asked hopeful, "You know…save the world and everything?"

He scowled at her, "Save the world? What the hell are you talking about?"

"His plan to stop Van and save the world."

He turned and laughed harshly, "Yeah, right, save the world."

She made a face, "What's he planning on doing then."

Someone burst through the door, "It's time. Daimon's ready."

Her eyes widened as the bound her hands together behind her back and blindfolded her. She felt herself being guided, but all she could think about was Daimon.

What are you planning?

--

"Sync, we came here in the first place to take care of these people," Tear reasoned, "Some of us can go with you, others will have to stay behind and help out."

He nodded, "Who's coming with us?"

Anise was the first to speak up, "I am!"

Next it was Guy, "Yeah, I'll come, too."

"We might need more than this." Kayden spoke, worriedly glancing at his current teammates. Sync scowled.

"This'll be fine," He mumbled, "Come on! We don't have much time."

--

She could feel herself being guided down into a kneeling position, and she could hear the cheers around her.

The fact that people actually watched this disgusted her, but she didn't take time to dwell on it.

--

"Where's your headquarters?"

"This way. Follow me"

--

"Everyone!" Daimon called in his deep monotone voice, "Today we gather here to experience the witness the act of justice."

She grimaced at his ideal "justice."

"This girl has joined the other side!" He bellowed, "And this is her punishment."

She could picture him raising the gun, and the cheers got louder.

"Wait!" She called. It suddenly got quiet. "I need to know something."

It was silent, and she took that as a sign to continue. "What are you planning to do? With the world?"

He chuckled, "You already know, child."

"But you lied, didn't you?" It got so quiet, she wondered if there was anyone left. "You lied to me. You're planning something terrible."

"Sh-She lies!" He called out, and she was sure that she was the only one who caught the stutter, "Turning against us."

"He wants one thing and one thing only." A voice said form behind her, she recognized it as Alec's.

"What's that?" She murmured through tight lips.

"Death. No revival, no second chance, unless Lorelei provides it."

The cheers roared so loud she thought her eardrums might burst, but she struggled to catch Alec's voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Think."

The cheering got louder.

"Why are you telling me this?"

She knew he was raising the gun when sections of the crowd started chanting 'shoot, shoot, shoot.'

She barely heard him; "We were friends, once, you know." He chuckled, "We were married."

She smiled.

She kneeled there, perfectly still, as the chanting got impossibly loud. Suddenly, it came to a stop, breaking off and fading away. There was a sort of clattering noise, and a loud thump.

It was so eerily silent, she wondered if she had already died.

The blindfold was removed, and only a few feet away, Sync stood; his expression clouded with anger, and getting up from the ground was Daimon. His gun was near her feet, but she was too caught up in the confusion to notice.

There was an uproar.

She looked behind her and Anise stood there, untying her hands. As soon as she was free, she threw her arms around Anise.

"Anise! I missed you so much!"

"I-I missed you too, but now's not the time!" She stuttered, prying Luella off of her.

"Right, right." She muttered, "Sorry."

Anise ran off to help Sync fight Daimon. The people in the crowd booed and yelled, but didn't move. Luella turned to try to find Alec, but found he was gone.

She looked over at Daimon, who was currently fighting Sync, Guy, and Anise. He wanted death. No second chances. Unless Lorelei wanted it.

But he wanted to stop Van, what did that mean?

Van was trying to destroy the world, this she knew, but he was also trying to recreate it with replicas. Give the world a chance to get away from the score…

…Give the world a chance…

Was that what Daimon didn't want? That chance? Unless Lorelei wanted it.

Her eyes widened. He wanted one thing; death. He wanted to destroy the world so there would be no more score, no more evil, nothing.

He wanted no second chance; He didn't want to recreate it like Van. He wanted to just get rid of it.

Unless Lorelei provides it; he wanted to let Lorelei be the one to recreate it. But that made no sense!

Destroying the world, wouldn't that destroy Lorelei, too?

She saw Sync grab Daimon by the shirt collar and lift his fist, but suddenly there was a sudden jerk in the ground. The people only got louder, not helping the situation.

A rock fell from the ceiling, and Sync immediately bound towards Luella. He yanked her up, "hurry up," He ordered, pulling her along. She followed deafly.

"Sync, where are the others?" She demanded.

"Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself?" He took a sharp turn and Luella nearly ran into the wall.

"Where are they?"

He sighed, "I sent them back to help the others."

"Are they going to be okay?" Another sharp turn, but this time she was more prepared.

"Luella, they have more of a chance of living than we do, now shut up and keep moving!"

"Why do they have more of a chance?"

"They're closer to the surface, I'm pretty sure."

"Sync, what's going on?" Luella asked, her voice shaking.

"Akzeriuth is collapsing."

"What?"

"It's collapsing, now hurry up!" He took her hand, rushing her and leading her though various tunnels and passageways.

They soon came to a dead end. "Damn it!" He cursed, clenching his fists.

"Sync, come on, we have to get out of here!"

He didn't answer.

"Sync, we--" He slipped his mask off, but he was still turned away from her, "What are you doing?"

In the blink of an eye, he had turned around, pinned her to the wall, and placed his lips on hers. Her eyes widened, but she didn't dare move--she really didn't want it to end.

Too soon, he pulled away, and placed his mask on hurriedly. He began to run down the tunnel. "Luella, come on!" She quickly caught up, and grabbed his arm for support as another quake reverberated throughout the cave.

He began running, pulling her along quickly. There was a particularly violent jerk, and it sent her tumbling backwards, while he stumbled forward slightly. He turned around to help her up, but there was another shake that sent the roof of the cave collapse.

Luella scrambled back to avoid the falling rubble, then stared wide eyes. "Sync?" She called.

There was no answer. Nothing she could hear. She nearly shivered as she thought; I'm on my own here, now, aren't I?

--

Sync pounded on the wall of rubble, cursing inwardly.

Thank Lorelei I kissed her before this happened, he thought, relieved. He cringed as soon as the thought ran through his mind. He had already given himself a mental beating for kissing her in the first place, so he let himself off with inwardly smacking himself.

"You've got to be kidding me," He mumbled.

It was strange; as he ran through the cave, finding the exit and running to get out of the city before it fell completely, all he could think about was her.

--

She had no idea where she was, or where she was going. She wondered if she was even going the right direction. There was a particularly loud, violent rumble and she nearly fell over.

She looked up, and the roof was caving in. She was ready to just duck and hope for the best, but something was wrapped around her mouth and she was pushed into a small, sturdy entrance.

And she knew no more.

**Omigosh, 2723 words!!! I am REALLY proud of myself right now!! I hope you liked it. Ugh, I worked hard on it, trust me!**

**I hope you like it. Review!!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Yes! It's a quick-ish update!!**

**Okay, for those of you who like syncxoc stories, read Tricked by Midnightxwolfx, seriously, it's amazing!**

**I favorited it!**

**Okay, so I hope you like this chapter!**

She couldn't, for the life of her, remember what had just happened. It was so deathly quiet, though, she found herself nearly afraid to open her eyes. When she felt them slipping open involuntarily, she squeezed them shut and took in a short, quick breath. And in that same breath, had to roll over and cough out the burning feeling that entered her throat.

She finally gained the courage to open her eyes, and screamed as loud as she could. Instead of the familiar setting of an inn room with either Sync or Tear, Natalia, and Anise (she had begun to lose track of who she was with) she found a barren wasteland.

Everything had lost its original color to a blood red, and everything was broken. The air smelt putrid, and it burned her lungs. She looked down, and found herself at the edge of a small plate of Rock, she squealed and tumbled away.

She suddenly remembered the events that led to this. She had no idea of where she was. All she knew was not too long ago, she was about to be executed.

Looks like my death's going to be much slower, she thought sourly. She stared around her, wide eyed. The air was tinted purple, giving everything a scarlet tinge. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but went into another fit of coughs.

When she regained her breath, she looked around for any sign of life. Everything was still, except for the slowly shifting mist of miasma surrounding her. Her hands felt cold and clammy, despite the dreadfully hot temperature, and her ears were ringing; despite the silence.

"Hello?" She called hopefully, looking around herself. There was no answer, absolute silence. Although there was no sign of life, she thanked Lorelei there wasn't a sign of death. There was no was she'd be able to handle that.

And what of the others? She thought dreadfully, Anise and Kayden? And Sync? What had happened to them? Had they got away? She was sure Anise, Kayden, Guy, and all those who had helped her had a chance of getting away. They had left before her. What about Sync?

If she didn't get out, he probably didn't either.

She was suddenly aware of something around her neck. She pulled it off hurriedly and examined the fabric.

It was some sort of bandana. Blue, with black and grey wording on it. It was written there plain and supposedly easy to read, but she couldn't read it--she couldn't read. He had told her once, but she couldn't remember.

Kayden.

She remembered he would tuck it in his boot for good luck. He'd had it for years. For it to have been wrapped around her mouth--as she was sure it was because she remembered having something tied around there before she blacked out-- he had to have been in the cavern.

A wave of panic went through her. If Anise or Tear or any of her new friends died, that would be terrible. If Sync died--though she'd like to believe she'd be happy--there was no doubt she'd be depressed. But if Kayden died…

She griped the fabric tightly for fear of dropping it into the seemingly bottomless pit of the mud-miasma mixture, and she tied it around her mouth. She then recognized the fact that she was starting to feel strangely dizzy, and a little woozy.

She climbed to her feet, and looked around again. Taking in a deep breath, with the new 'filter' of sorts on her mouth, she quickly pulled the bandana off, holding her breath, and called out again.

"Anyone?" Her voice sounded so out of place to her.

Still, no one answered. She sat down carefully, not wanting to fall. She pulled the cloth back over her mouth and took in a shaky breath. He held her head between her knees tiredly, but kept her eyes wide open to avoid falling asleep.

She turned her eyes to the mud and miasma, lifting her head slowly to look at it. She stared.

Obviously, it would hurt her. Unfortunately, the curiosity got the better of her. Ripping off the bottom half of her shirt (which was already torn in multiple places) and dropped it in. It sunk, but nothing else.

She put her hand near it. It wasn't touching, but it was very close.

It was warm.

No, it was hot.

Really hot.

With a deafening scream, she pulled her hand back. Looking at her hand, she silently prayed it hadn't burned.

She supposed she would find out.

She found herself thinking of Sync as she waited--her head between her knees once again. She couldn't seem to place a reason as to why he kissed her. She had considered spur-of-the-moment, but he just led up to it so…slowly. Taking the mask and standing there, it would take a lot of thinking.

Rolling her eyes and huffing indignantly, she decided she would just ask him when--if, but she secretly prayed it was when--she saw him again. It never really occurred to her that he may simply not answer it.

She heard a noise. A noise so quiet that at first, she thought she was hearing things. That her mind--after spending most likely several hours in silence--was hearing what it wanted to hear.

However, it got gradually louder, and soon it became a small buzzing sound. Her head shot up and she looked around. She couldn't see anything g out of the ordinary, but she kept her head up and paid close attention.

In the distance, she saw something small. She tried to stay rational, but she couldn't stop her hopes swelling at the sight. She sat perfectly still, nearly afraid that if she moved, she would make it go away.

She did try, however, to ignore it. She had heard many times before from superstitious knights that if you wanted something too much, you wouldn't get it.

It came closer, and she realized it really was taking an agonizingly long time to approach. It only succeeded in making her more nervous.

It came close enough for her to make out details, and she was sure she knew the ship well. The large stature, the swift movements…

The Tartarus!

She jumped up--almost too quickly as she stumbled and nearly had a heart attack because she thought she would fall in. She looked up excitedly, waving her arms like a madwoman.

"Hey!" She called after removing the cloth. They were getting closer, and she could see every detail of the ship. "Over here!"

They were going right past her.

In a panic, she grabbed a hard rock and threw it at the Tartarus.

--

"Do you think we were too hard on Luke?" Guy asked, worriedly. Anise scowled.

"No," She growled, "He needs to own up. It was his fault!"

"I know," He replied, "But--"

There was a loud crash and something smacked Guy in the back of the head. He leaned over, groaning, and Natalia stared worriedly from the other side of the room.

"Guy, are you alright?" She asked from across the way. He only moaned in response. Anise picked up the object, a rock.

Natalia ran to the window, "Anise!" she called, "Get Jade to stop the boat!"

"Why--"

"Now!"

--

Satisfied with the less-than-half-way-ruined property, but distraught about the fact it hadn't stopped, she sat back down, whining.

Then it stopped, and she saw Anise on the top. She would have suspected in the silence, you could hear anything, but it seemed too thick--because when Anise opened her mouth to speak, she heard nothing.

They came towards her, and they helped her on. Anise fussed over if she was okay, how she got out, and if she had gotten hurt, while Tear and Natalia checked for wounds or something. They pulled her inside quickly.

It was suddenly clean--the air--and a wave of dizziness hit her. She stumbled, and the room spun.

She fainted.

**--Sniff--**

**Sync's dead!**

**Or is he?**

**WE SHALL FIND OUT**

**Eventually.**

**Please review!!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Yay! Two updates! Once upon a Saturday I was bored out of my freakin' mind. So I sat down at my computer and started typing and VIOLA!!**

**Two chapters in one day!**

**I haven't done this in forever, but whatever.**

**Thanks to Culin for beta reading both this chapter and the last one!**

She woke up easier this time. She snapped her eyes open willingly and glanced at the people in the room. Jade was there, and Anise was staring at her worriedly.

"What happened?" Luella asked, sitting up.

"You passed out. Jade said it was because you inhaled some miasma. You didn't inhale too much, though, because of that bandana. Where is that from anyway?"

She blatantly avoided the question, "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes, we're almost to Yulia city." Anise replied, smiling. Luella nodded, then tried to stand. Anise helped her, until Luella was stable, then let go.

"Anise?" She called tentatively.

"Yes?"

"Did you see Kayden…anywhere? At all? After the city's falling, I mean."

Anise frowned, "No, I'm sorry." Luella looked down. "Oh, Luella, it's okay, I--"

"What about Sync?"

Anise immediately became suspicious. "What _about_ Sync?"

Luella's eyes widened for a minute, then she shook her head, "Never mind. Forget it."

"No, no, tell me!" Anise persisted, "I want to know, what _about _Sync?" Her voice sounded more conniving now.

Luella sighed wearily, "Have you seen him?"

"No, I--"

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know." She snapped, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

"Sorry," Anise apologized, but the grin was still there. "I haven't seen your--"

"Finish that sentence and you get a fonstone shoved through your head." Luella threatened, gesturing to the lights above them.

Anise just laughed. "Someone's touchy about their--"

"Anise!"

"--boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" She objected immediately.

"Then why do you care if he's alive."

"I don't!"

Anise sighed, "Fine, whatever. He hasn't kissed you or anything, so I guess it's not official…"

Luella blushed a deep scarlet, "…Yeah…"

Anise gaped, and--wasting no time waiting for the reaction since Anise obviously saw right through her--Luella took off down the hall.

"Luella get back here! I want every detail! When did this happen? How did this happen? Where the hell are you going?" And she bound off after Luella.

--

"I want to know every single detail!" Anise demanded, once she had cornered Luella.

"Every single detail?" She squeaked in response.

"Starting from the beginning."

--

Anise only stared at her when she had finished. Luella became nervous under her stare and nervously asked, "What is it?"

"Damn…" Anise drawled, "He's got it bad for you!"

Luella tilted her head in confusion, "Got what? Did he get me a present?"

Anise stared at her incredulously, before correction herself, "NO, I mean--ugh! Have you ever heard the expression 'whipped?'"

Luella's expression turned to pure horror and her face went white. Her hand covered her mouth as she gasped theoretically, "He was _whipped_?" She screamed.

Anise slapped her head, "No!" She yelled, "It means he likes you! A lot!"

She relaxed, taking a deep breath and letting her face regain its color. "Well, that's good." Then she paused, "Does it hurt to get 'whipped?'" She asked, etching imaginary quotation marks into the air at the word 'whipped.'

Anise rolled her eyes, "No," She responded curtly, then got quiet. "Do you think he survived?"

Luella looked down, "I don't know…"

Anise frowned, "Well, I'm sure he did! He's a God-General! It should be easy for him to get out of that kind of situation!"

Luella only sighed in response.

Anise smiled warmly, "Come on, let's get you some clothes, those are all ripped.

"I don't have a pack or anything.

Anise shrugged, "That's fine, we'll find something of mine. You're smaller, but you can take some of my old clothes!"

Luella smiled, and Anise led her to her room. She got out a pack and started looking through "I think I brought something I liked--but it doesn't fit anymore.

She found it and pulled it out. It was a maroon dress, only reaching the middle of her thighs. It only had straps a few inches wide, and it had a pale pink under shirt with a zig-zag cut for the top. The dress ended with the same cut, and she had regular shoes--only they were pink in color.

It was fitted, and a little too girly for her tastes, but she was happy enough to have clothes that weren't in pieces. Not to mention they were comfortable.

"Thanks," Luella said quietly. Anise only frowned in response, staring at her.

"What?"

"You're hair, come here." Luella frowned.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Just come here!" She ordered, and pulled Luella's hair out, dropping one broken chopstick into her hand.

"What happened?" Luella asked, curious to where her previous hairstyle had gone.

"Must've happened during the fall." She shrugged. Luella nodded.

"We're at Yulia City!" Natalia called from the door.

--

Saying Luella was amazed with Yulia City didn't even begin to explain it. Every moment since they got there she did nothing but gush about how beautiful Tear's 'homeland' was--as she called it. The only time she pulled her attention away was when Luke had fought with Asch and passed out.

Luke lost.

Which was sad, because Luella really hated Asch, ever since he had called her 'The Tempest's girlfriend' before he fought Luke.

"_You're the Tempest's Girlfriend, aren't you?" he asked, his voice lacking any possible interest._

"_I am not his girlfriend!" Luella objected, glaring._

"_Right," He said, rolling his eyes, "Of course you aren't."_

"_I'm not!"_

"_I agreed with you! No wonder you two are together, you're both really annoying."_

"_Hey!" She shouted, and he smirked in reply._

"_Oops." he said sarcastically, "Didn't mean to say that out loud."_

"_Kick his ass, Luke!"_

But now, as she stood with Tear--she had decided to stay with Luke, since she hated Asch--and couldn't shut herself up.

She went on and on about how beautiful everything was, and was planning to babble on until morning, but Tear sent her to bed.

She told her she needed her rest after everything that had happened.

Luella rolled her eyes, but obliged, and began to walk off. She knew where her current room was, but stopped by the library. She found a fairly current book on the order of Lorelei. She saw Van, and she wondered how long he had been Commandant. Legretta was there, Largo, Dist, and Arietta. Then she saw Sync.

He wasn't much younger in the book, so he looks virtually the same. She frowned and read the caption:

"One of the Six God-Generals, Sync the Tempest is a martial artist, as well as the strategist for the Six God-Generals' missions. He joined the order nearly a year ago and it is apparent he won't be leaving any time soon."

The rest was about his fighting style and a bunch of other stuff she already knew. She looked at the picture again and saw that mask. She had only seen his face once up close. The second time she could have seen it, but…was a little distracted.

He has pretty eyes… She thought, then rolled her eyes and shut the book. She left it on the chair and walked up to the room. She caught sight of the bedside lamp in her room, which was a striking shade of green, and frowned.

She picked it up, the tossed it in the closet, shutting the door. She crawled into bed, trying to fall asleep.

She knew it wouldn't come.

**Arg!**

**I need happy!**

**But I need to work my way up to happy endings and stuff, so I have to be patient.**

**No, the ending isn't near, I'm just saying I have to wait before anyone's real happy again.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Oh wow I haven't updated in forever. Sorry about that! I have two chapters for you now!**

Luke had long since awoken, and he had approached Tear in the Garden. His hair was short now, and Luella had to say, she liked the change. In both hair and attitude. The little girl was in the library flipping through a book on fonons.

She nearly scoffed--like this would help her at all, She was nearly incapable of doing any art--she had just never really been trained for that.

Sighing, she flipped to the next page, which had a very uninteresting list of fonic artes.

"Luella?" Tear asked, and Luella only replied with a small hum, "Are you sure your okay."

Tear had already begun to pick up on Luella's bad mood. Just so many things were so…so…_green._

The lamp was green, half the book population was green, she even met a guy with green hair. How the hell does that even happen?

However, she just nodded and assured Tear there was nothing to worry about.

Because there wasn't.

Not when the only problems you had were gone now. There shouldn't be anything wrong.

He was the _enemy_. She never even _loved_ him, it wasn't _supposed_ to hurt like this!

--

When they set out onto the outer lands, Luella's mood got even worse.

I wish the grass would just become extinct already… She thought angrily, looking to the side and seeing the fields of _green_ grass that went on for _miles_and _miles_.

Why did he have to have green hair anyway? Was that even natural? No. No it wasn't.

She gritted her teeth and willed any thought of Sy--_him_ away.

Yeah, it didn't work.

"Are you okay?" She heard Luke ask.

"Yes I'm okay, Luke! I'm just freaking peachy!!" She snapped, then crossed her arms and turned forward. Luke backed away slowly.

"Okay…" He said quietly, creeping back over to Tear. She huffed, but ignored him.

They met Guy at the Springs, who was just as concerned as Luke and Tear, but didn't want to go near her on account of she slapped him the first time.

A slap is bad enough, but….well, considering it was from a woman….

But he tried to wipe the memory from his mind.

Luella tried to keep the memory in mind for future reference.

While Guy and Luke were talking, a monster showed up. Luella--most definitely not in the mood for a fight--took Luke's sword from its sheath, whipped it around and stabbed the monster, twisting the sword and pulling it out. The monster fell.

"…Damn…" Luke remarked, taking his sword back. Luella stomped forward, leading the group.

It took a few moments for the group to phase back into reality, and then they followed Luella, who was currently flipping a certain annoying monster off of her back, slamming it into the ground head-first, then into the waters below.

"She's frightening when she's angry…" Tear commented quietly.

"Definitely," Luke agreed.

--

Jade had joined the group, still holding one hell of a grudge on Luke for destroying Akzeriuth. When Jade had commented on how bright and happy Luella looked that morning, she responded by glaring and saying "I hate you."

It was nighttime, and most of the group was asleep.

With the exception of Luella.

She found herself desperately needing to get away for a bit, so she stood and began to walk around the woods.

She found a small creek and smiled to herself--barely. She began skipping across the stones and back, just for fun. She carefully trod on one unsteady stone…

"Luella!"

She freaked and fell in the water. The water only came up to the middle of her calves when standing, so it's not like she would drown or anything. Still, she was mad at whoever distracted her.

"Son of a--" She mumbled, "Look what you did!"

The man, at least she assumed it was a man because of the deep voice, chuckled.

"Who's there." She demanded angrily.

"I apologize Luella," The voice said.

"Who's there?" She demanded again, "I'm not asking for an apology, I'm asking for an introductory greeting."

"You almost sound exactly like him, he must be rubbing off on you."

"Damn it, who's there? And who's rubbing off on me?"

"A certain green haired God-general, perhaps?" The voice said, and she spotted the silhouette, "He's rubbing off on you."

At the mentioning of her befallen commander, a flash of anger went through her.

"Don't you ever mention him again!" She snarled at the shadow. He chuckled again.

"I take it you don't want to come see him then…" She froze.

"He's dead!"

"Did you see him die?" He asked.

She was silent.

"He's waiting for you, Luella." He stepped out of the shadows, but she still couldn't see any distinct features due to the lack of light.

He held out his hand to her.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

"You will find out," He said, "Take my hand."

He voice wobbled, "I want to know now…"

She saw his cheeks go up--he was smiling. "A friend." He replied, "The only friend you can turn to."

"I have other friends." She replied defiantly.

"Yes," He chuckled, "But I'm the only one who can heal your pain."

She stared as he stretched his hand out further.

"He's waiting." He reminded, "For you."

She took his hand. And as soon as she did a shock went through her and he vision went black.

"Trust me."

And then there was nothing.

**Meh, tell me how I did!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Tada!!**

She awoke and had no idea where she was. She sat up quickly in bed, looking around wildly. There was no one with her.

She stood up quickly, rushing out the door, and recognized the setting immediately.

Why was she at the Oracle Knights Headquarters?

"Hello, Luella." She recognized the voice from the night before. She whirled around…

There stood Van.

"What am I doing here?" She growled.

He smiled, "Waiting for Sync to come back from his mission."

Her eyes widened, "He's alive?"

"Of course." She could only stare, "when he's back I can let you know."

She nodded deafly, and he left.

She didn't want to admit it, but that was probably the best news she had ever received…_ever_.

--

She was practically skipping through the halls. She hadn't been this happy since…

Well, when you think about it, it wasn't that long ago, but it seemed like forever.

But she wanted to know when the happiness would pay off, exactly.

She passed by a room, and saw someone she could ask. "Legretta?" She called, feeling weird to just call her name so familiarly.

"Yes, Luella?" The blonde general replied.

"When's Sync coming back?"

It went deadly silent, and Legretta finally turned around to face Luella; something she had failed to do when her name was first called.

"Luella…" She said cautiously, "We haven't heard of Sync since Akzeriuth…"

Her heart sank, "But--" She stopped herself, "Right, I…I just had a dream that…Umm Sync was here and--" She lied. "Thank you, I'll just go now…"

She walked the other way, back where she came from. She planned on running away, just leaving and trying to forget about it all, but as she passed Van's office, anger took over.

She barged in, and Van looked up calmly. "Hello Luella."

"You lying, conniving, manipulative, little bastard!" She screamed. Van looked at her coolly.

"I don't know what you mean…"

"Le--" She stopped herself, not wanting to give away any names, "Liar!" She compensated for her little slip up. "I was told Sync hasn't been seen or heard of since Akzeriuth."

He stayed calmer than ever.

"Why?" She demanded, "Why did you want me here? Sync isn't here? What made you have to lie?"

He didn't answer. She punched the wall angrily, creating a dent, but her hand throbbed afterwards, "Answer me!"

"Luella, I can help you." He comforted, standing up from behind his desk.

"I didn't ask if you could help!" She imagined herself looking like a mad-woman, her eyes were wide and they were glassing over with tears.

"Luella--"

"I hate you!" She spat, "You and…and your false hopes! Your lies! I hate everything about you!"

"I have faith that Sync is alive, Luella. I didn't lie about that."

"Well, faith isn't enough right now!" She screeched.

"Luella, you need to calm down--"

"I am calm!" She slammed her fist into the wall again, knocking off a row of books on his bookshelf, "Don't I look calm to you?"

"Luella--"

"Just shut up!" She shouted, clenching her eyes shut and placing her hands over her ears, "I don't want to hear you try and give me any more false hope! I can't wait to see you die!"

He only stared, but she heard the doors behind her slam open and five or so Oracle Knights barged in and made a grab for her.

"Go away!" She screamed, kicking one in the head, and whacking another in his side.

She ran out and down the hall, out into the open air of Daath. The guards were on her tail, chasing her down the street. She shut her eyes to try and prevent any tears from escaping. Sure, she felt utterly foolish and embarrassed, but it wasn't because of how what she said. It was because she actually felt happy when she found out Sync was alive…and heartbroken when he wasn't.

She still hadn't opened her eyes when she ran straight into a solid body. She finally had tears streaming down her face and she choked back a sob. She looked up, and her eyes widened upon realizing who it was.

Asch the Bloody was standing over her. He took one look at the guards rushing up from behind and back down at her fallen form.

She quickly stood and tried to run, but he caught her form and looked at her. He didn't exactly look concerned, but it also didn't look like he wanted to turn her back to them.

They caught up and Asch looked up from her, letting her go and turning to the guards.

"What's happened here?" Luella didn't have the wits about her to run just yet.

"She nearly attacked the Commandant!" This was an exaggeration, of course. She would have never dreamed of actually attacking the commandant--to be blunt she was no match for him. She was angry, however, and yelling.

Asch looked back at her, and in the split moment he took his eyes off the guards, they made a mad dash for her.

She turned to run, but one of them caught her and pulled her arms behind her back. She jerked away, but another two grabbed both her arms and lifted her off the ground.

"Hey!" She heard Asch's call to stop, but she supposed they didn't.

"Get your hands off of her!" In the midst of her struggling, she numbly recalled it being a different voice, but she couldn't place who it was.

Next thing she knew, the two guards holding her were pulled back and thrown--quite violently-- against a nearly building. She fell forward and caught herself before she hit the ground, just scraping her hands.

She looked up and saw a figure she couldn't make out beating the shit out of most of the guards. As one fell to the ground, the others stood back, holding their hands up and dropping their weapons in defeat.

The anger of them chasing her, for only the reason of her anger was for being lied to, had yet to kick in. She only stared at the man who stood before the guards. "Go back to Oracle headquarters before I have to kill all of you!"

They turned and ran, picking up the unconscious soldiers and dragging them back.

Luella was still on the ground, and Asch helped her up. "Who…?" She began, but stopped upon seeing the figure. It wasn't the familiar black clothing or the sound of his voice that caught her attention, it was his hair.

_Green._

Her eyes widened and she took a step or two back as the boy turned around. She half expected it to be another man with green hair like the one she found back in Yulia City, but she saw the mask and she was sure no one else would willingly wear that parrot mask.

She wanted to say something, but there was nothing to say. She only stared. Asch, seemingly uncomfortable, drew in a breath and let out a long, annoyed sigh. "I'm heading back to headquarters."

He walked by Sync and mumbled something, she didn't hear what, but it caused Sync to swing his hand back and thump Asch on the head angrily.

She was about to say something, but she thought of the kiss before their being separated and the words got caught in her throat.

He wasn't too far away from her, and he greeted with a nod and "Luella."

She cracked a smile, "Sync." She breathed. He looked to the side awkwardly, lifting his hand to rub the back of his neck.

He opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped when Luella threw her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer to him.

"I thought you died," She mumbled.

"Same." He replied quietly, and she smiled as she felt the rumbled of his voice in his chest.

"I don't see how you lived," he went on, "you were trapped on the opposite side of the exit."

She frowned, "I don't know how I lived." She said, "Someone pushed me and…there was something wrapped around my mouth…" She pulled away, "It was Kayden's… and I haven't seen him since Akzeriuth…"

He frowned, "Kayden is one Hell of a bastard--" she glared "--in my opinion, but he's also…kind of strong willed and all," She smiled at his reluctance to compliment Kayden, "he's probably still alive."

"No," she shook her head.

He scowled, "Fine, if that's the way you want to look at it, he's probably dead and you'll never see him again."

She slapped him on the arm.

"What?" He snarled, and she only glared in response, "You're the one who refuses to be optimistic."

"Yeah," She drawled, "And since when are you optimistic?"

He glared, "As of now, and probably never again, so treasure the moment."

She rolled her eyes, and he turned to go back to headquarters, she followed.

He stopped suddenly, staring at her. "Where do you think you're going?"

She tilted her head, "With you."

He stared, seeming to suddenly remember something. "Why were you running from those guards?"

She furrowed her brow, then her eyes widened guiltily, "Umm…" She explained the ordeal with Van and how she….kind of sort of joined him…

He stared, "What?" he seethed.

She avoided his eyes guiltily, "Well he said you were alive and back and Oracle Knights headquarters and I--well I thought--I'm sorry! He told me--I believed him--" She would have continued sputtering out her apologies, but he gripped her arm and walked quickly to the dock.

"Where are we going?"

"You."

She stared, "What?"

"You are going to meet back up with the others."

Her eyes widened, and she pulled against his grip, "No! I want to stay!"

"No." He continued to pull her onto the dock, and turned to face her.

"Here," He said, pulling out a ticket and handing it to her, "I'll get another when I actually have to leave."

"Why not leave now?"

He glared, "Luella, don't make this difficult!"

"I'll make this as difficult as I want to make it!!" She yelled, stomping her foot.

"Luella!"

"No!"

He glared, and she glared back. "Luella, I don't know what Van's going to do to you. What he'll _make_ you do. If anything happens to you, and I know you only came here because you thought I was here, I won't forgive myself. Now get on the damn boat and ship yourself back to the others!"

She stared at him sadly, tilting her head and pulling his lips to hers. Immediately he responded, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her as close as possible.

A horn sounded, signaling the boat was boarding. He pulled away and pushed her in the direction of the boat.

She reluctantly boarded, then realized something--she had no idea where the Hell her friends were.

She turned to run back and get Sync to help her, but the boat was already leaving me.

_Oh damn…_

Two updates!

**Oh, and thank you Culinaromancer for beta reading my last few chapters. They'd be filled with ugly spelling grammars and awkward grammar problems without you!**


	31. IMPORTANT

**Hey everyone!**

**Yeah, I know, I usually hate it whenever someone updates with ONLY an author's note, but this is KINDA important.**

**Okay, so, I've been going over my story lately and I find I don't feel as proud of it as I would like to. Not to mention I hardly have the hang of third person.**

**Sooooo, I'm going to rewrite it.**

**And, no, I'm not going to delete it and start over, but I'm going to go through rewrite chapters and just replace them. I'm not changing it completely, I'm keeping the same plot and events in the story, but I'm changing the perspective among other things, like some of the dialog and such.  
**

**I just felt I should let you know. I won't be updating for quite a while and I didn't want to leave you all hanging.**

**So, this story is officially UNDER CONSTRUCTION! I don't think it should take TOO long to get all done. There won't be any writers block since I'm not coming up with any new ideas or anything.**

**Thanks to all my loyal readers and reviewers! It means a lot to me that you guys are like my story!**

**--Avia--**


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